An Equality Officer ordered a school to pay a father €4,000 after finding discrimination on gender and civil-status grounds and victimisation over its handling of his attendance at his daughter’s sports day. The decision was dated 21 October 2014.
The father said he was notified of the event later than other parents and was asked for court documents about access to his daughter. The school said it wanted to avoid conflict and protect the child’s welfare. The officer found that the principal assumed without basis that the father might cause trouble and that he was not welcome at the sports day.
The family-status and harassment complaints failed; the race complaint was withdrawn during the hearing.