The Labour Court disallowed Andrzej Wojcik’s appeal against the rejection of his equal-pay, race-harassment and victimisation claims against The Buggyman Limited. The determination was signed on 17 November 2014.
Wojcik argued that he was paid less than an Irish national comparator and had faced race-based harassment and retaliation. The court agreed that he and the comparator did not perform like work: the comparator’s work involved greater skill, mental demands and responsibility, so the equal-pay claim failed.
The court found that the complaint about name-calling in April 2011 was outside the time limit. For the timely harassment complaint, it found the employer had taken reasonably practicable steps after the earlier incident and that a September altercation contained no reference to Wojcik’s nationality.
The court also found that a written warning related to Wojcik’s conduct towards colleagues and that he had not been victimised. It affirmed the Equality Officer’s decision, which had found against the discrimination claim and found no victimisation.