The Labour Court upheld the Equality Officer’s decision against Iacob Laurentiu on his complaints of race discrimination in working conditions, race harassment and discriminatory dismissal. It ruled that the sexual harassment complaint was outside its jurisdiction because it was submitted out of time; the merits were not decided. The determination was signed on 15 July 2011.
Laurentiu, a former hall porter at The Central Hotel, said the managing director subjected him to racial abuse and hostile treatment that led him to resign. The hotel denied discrimination and said his work had deteriorated and he had received written warnings.
The Court found that Laurentiu and the managing director’s relationship had deteriorated and that inappropriate language had been used. It said he had not established facts from which race discrimination or harassment could be inferred, and his discriminatory dismissal complaint also failed. The Court added that, even if it had jurisdiction over the sexual harassment complaint, the alleged single use of a word could not be classified as sexual harassment.