The Labour Court found race discrimination at Johnstown Garden Centre and awarded Ala Berghie €4,000, varying the Adjudication Officer’s decision on her appeal. The Court dated its determination 10 July 2017.
Berghie, who worked in the garden centre’s catering staff, alleged racial comments by co-workers and said the employer failed to investigate her complaints. The Court found that she had established a race discrimination case and that the employer had failed to rebut it. It found the employer’s anti-discrimination policy and complaints process inadequate, and said the employer should not have relied on her failure to submit a written complaint.
The Court did not accept that Berghie was entitled to regard herself as constructively dismissed and found that part of her complaint not well founded. It awarded €4,000 for the effects of discrimination, not for loss of earnings.