The Workplace Relations Commission found for dating agency owner Fergal Harrington in a disability discrimination complaint brought by Marian Kane, ruling that ending her membership application was not less favourable treatment because of her blindness. Adjudication Officer Patsy Doyle dated the decision 17 November 2017.
Kane said she was refused reasonable accommodation when she sought to join Harrington’s agency. She had sent a €50 deposit, which was returned after the parties’ calls. Harrington said he ended the process because of what he considered a hostile exchange, not her disability.
The officer found that the first call went well and that a follow-up meeting had been arranged after Kane disclosed her disability. She accepted that Harrington later curtailed the application and intended to return the deposit, but found no evidence Kane was treated less favourably than a person without a disability in similar circumstances. The complaint was not well founded.