An autistic cinema manager who quit when his employer was unable to guarantee him two days off in a row following a months-long dispute over rostering arrangements has secured €12,000 in compensation for disability discrimination.
The complainant’s wife gave evidence that her husband’s manager said she “did not consider autism a disability, but a ‘superpower’,” a remark which the general manager denied making, the tribunal noted.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ordered Omniplex Cork Ltd to pay the sum to Dylan O’Riordan on foot of a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 after ruling it had failed to give reasonable accommodation for his disability.
The award was made after the tribunal heard the company was in the practice of “arranging suitable shifts” for students and pregnant workers – but made “no such accommodation” for Mr O’Riordan despite an occupational health assessment stating that he needed consistency and rest in his working week.
Mr O’Riordan told the employment tribunal that he had suffered a “significant deterioration” in his mental health in his last months at work as a duty manager at the cinema in late 2023. He had been promoted twice since he was first hired in March 2022, but said he had reported having “severe difficulties” to his manager “on many occasions”, he told the tribunal.
The tribunal heard that on a date in October last year, after a projector broke down at the cinema where Mr O’Riordan was in charge, the complainant informed his general manager that his shift was ending and he “would not be staying to assist”.
Ibec official Niamh Ní Cheallaigh, appearing for the employer, submitted that the general manager expressed concern for Mr O’Riordan’s mental health, referred him to the company employee assistance programme, and suggested he seek medical advice.
In further correspondence that month, Mr O’Riordan pointed out that he had been rostered for five upcoming closing shifts, followed by one day off and a further four closing shifts in a row. He informed his employer he would not be available for the next four days and that he would be seeing his doctor, the tribunal was told.
Mr O’Riordan then commenced a period of certified sick leave which continued from 28th October, 2023 until his resignation on 6th June, 2024, the tribunal heard.
The complainant’s wife gave evidence that she had spoken to the general manager the previous month and expressed concern about her husband “not receiving adequate rest periods between shifts”. She said the general manager’s response was to state that she “did not consider autism a disability, but a ‘superpower’,” the tribunal noted.
The complainant’s wife said the manager’s intention might have been to highlight “positive aspects of autism” but that she considered the alleged remark “inappropriate” in the context of her husband’s difficulties.
The general manager denied the remark and said she “only ever had [Mr O’Riordan’s] welfare at heart”.
A meeting between the parties in November 2023 failed to resolve matters, with adjudicator Gaye Cunningham noting that there was “some disagreement about the minutes”.
In January 2024, Mr O’Riordan reduced a series of grievances to seeking “consistent scheduling”, “two days off to rest and recover” in his working week and to be not rostered “exclusively” on closing shifts, the tribunal was told.
An occupational health assessment was done on 29th January, 2024, Ms Cunningham noted, writing that it set out a “clear” requirement for “consistency and rest” in respect of Mr O’Riordan’s working week.
From February to April, Mr O’Riordan and a human resources (HR) manager exchanged correspondence on rostering arrangements, but failed to reach an agreed position. He then commenced a statutory complaint by serving notice of alleged discrimination on the employer in April before resigning his employment on 6 June this year.
In her decision, Ms Cunningham wrote that the claimant had raised the inference of discrimination because even though it was common case that “pregnant employees and students” had been accommodated in rostering arrangements there had been “no such accommodation” for Mr O’Riordan.
She noted the efforts of the company’s HR manager to come to an agreement over a “lengthy period”, but said that Mr O’Riordan’s situation “was not fully addressed” – noting in particular “the absence of certainty in relation to two consecutive days off”.
Ms Cunningham upheld the complaint and concluded the company discriminated against the worker on disability grounds by failing to provide reasonable accommodation.
She ordered the firm to pay €12,000 in compensation and to hold “awareness training or workshops in an effort to introduce a positive management approach to staff with neurological complex conditions such as autism”.
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