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A HOTEL HAS brought a challenge to the High Court to overturn a finding by the WRC that it discriminated against a member of the travel community and should pay him € 15,000 in compensation.
The Bunratty Castle Hotel, which is located near Shannon Airport in Clare, claims the find is flawed and should be shelved.
Bunratty Castle Hotel Ltd claims that the WRC heard the complaint without the hotel’s representatives being present.
The hotel claims that it did not attend because the WRC correspondence regarding the complaint hearing was sent to the wrong email address.
The complaint to the WRC was filed under the Equal Status Act by Ms. Nora Ward, who approached the hotel in order to reserve the venue for her wedding.
The hotel, in its judicial review proceeding against the WRC, and the deciding officer in the case, Mr. Ray Flaherty, request an order overturning the WRC’s decision against them.
He also wants the court to order that the complaint be resolved in accordance with the law.
Represented by Lorcan Connolly Bl, the hotel says the hotel had the original hearing of the complaint, last August, postponed to a new date.
He expected to be informed by the WRC of the new date, but received no reply.
In January, he learned from a media report that discrimination had been found against a hotel, where the facts described were similar to the accusations made against him.
Following an investigation into the matter, the hotel unknowingly discovered that the adjourned hearing had taken place last September and a decision was published in January.
It also claims that the correspondence, including the applicant’s submissions or the result, from the WRC was sent to the wrong email address.
It should have been sent to [email protected], but in fact it was sent to [email protected], which is not an address you use, the hotel claims.
As a result of what happened, the hotel alleges that it was denied a hearing in the first instance, and that it has been exposed to greater penalties in case of appeal and publicity.
In its decision, the WRC said the hotel has been disparaging in its contacts with the woman after she provided information that would have identified her as a Traveler, as well as the hotel’s failure to properly engage with the WRC.
In her complaint, Ms Ward said that she contacted the hotel in July 2019 via email about her wedding celebration, with 100 to 120 guests.
She claimed that she received a positive email response from the hotel, inviting her to a wedding showcase event.
On the day of the event, Ms. Ward provided both her last name and that of her fiancé to the hotel.
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The woman told the WRC that when she showed up at the hotel, she claimed that the staff member she had been in contact with was “distant and hasty.”
She claimed that the staff member did not take her on a tour of the site, despite being told by another couple that they had been taken on a tour.
Ms. Ward stated that she and her family members, who attended the wedding showcase with her, were easily identifiable as members of the traveling community.
The staff member told him that he would get in touch with the available dates.
Two days later, the complainant contacted the staff member to inquire about the dates, but received no response.
Ms. Ward said her treatment left her “devastated, humiliated and like a second-class citizen.”
The deciding officer ruled against the hotel and awarded it € 15,000, which is the highest possible prize.
The judicial review procedure was carried out before Judge Charles Meenan, who, ex parte, granted the hotel permission to present its challenge.
The matter will return to court in May.
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