An Equality Officer rejected a worker’s claims of disability discrimination, harassment, failure to provide reasonable accommodation, unequal pay and victimisation against Northern Trust Management Services Limited. The decision was dated 7 October 2013.
The worker said the company denied him the option of working from home during bad weather, treated him unfairly in disciplinary and grievance procedures, denied him promotion and retaliated against him. The company said its Business Resilience Policy applied to business-critical roles, while audit employees were excluded.
The officer found no discrimination or harassment in the disciplinary process, grievance handling, promotion decisions or medical assessments. She also found that experience and corporate titles accounted for pay differences, and that there was no evidence the 2010 appraisal was retaliation for a discrimination complaint.
The officer found no obligation to provide work-from-home accommodation on these facts. The worker declined a medical assessment, and the forecast bad weather did not occur. The forced-resignation allegation was precluded under section 101 after an earlier Rights Commissioner proceeding, so its merits were not decided.