The Labour Court disallowed Jun Liu’s appeal against the Equality Tribunal’s decision on his race discrimination claims against Dunnes Stores, dated 22 December 2015. It affirmed the findings that he had not established discriminatory dismissal and that Dunnes Stores was not liable for harassment. Liu’s victimisation claim was withdrawn.
Liu, a retail assistant at Dunnes Stores’ Scotch Hall store in Drogheda, said racial comments preceded a physical altercation with his manager on 1 December 2010. Dunnes Stores said it dismissed him for assaulting his manager and breaching workplace policies. The Court preferred Liu’s account of the alleged harassment and found it raised an inference of discrimination, but held that the retailer had taken reasonably practicable steps to prevent harassment. On dismissal, it found no reliable evidence that race influenced the decision and accepted gross misconduct as the reason.