A recycling company worker who alleged he was subjected to a homophobic assault at the hands of a colleague has won €12,000 in compensation for harassment on the grounds of his sexual orientation.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) heard that witness statements gathered in a company investigation said the worker was called “a b***h” and “f****t boy” by a colleague during the incident.
Dean Slattery made a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 against Liberties Recycling Training & Development Company Limited By Guarantee. He drove a van collecting clothing for recycling and earned €600 a week.
John Mulvey, who represented Mr Slattery before the WRC, submitted that his client, who is gay, was subjected to “hostile, distressing and homophobic” behaviour from a colleague on December 14th, 2023
A worker identified only as “Mr B” took Mr Slattery’s hand, purporting to shake it, but “deliberately grabbed and squeezed … violently”, the WRC noted.
“Mr B” then shook another colleague’s hand “normally” and remarked “watch how I shake a real man’s hand”.
Mr Slattery’s case was that the “real man’s hand” remark was a reference to his sexual orientation.
Mr Mulvey said despite his client being assured by his manager that “Mr B” would be spoken to, the incident was not addressed.
There was a further encounter between the men on December 20th, 2023, the tribunal heard.
Mr Slattery said “Mr B” approached him in an “intimidatory” way and the complainant said he did not want to talk to him. He said “Mr B” then became “extremely angry and aggressive” and called him a “b***h”.
He said he replied that he was “not going to accept that carry-on any more”.
“Mr B” then ran at him, grabbed him and pushed him into the van by his neck. The assault continued and “Mr B” continued to call him names after colleagues came to intervene.
The WRC heard Mr Slattery was brought to an office to remove him from the situation but “Mr B” allegedly “kicked open” the door and “made a run” at him. He was then brought to a different office and the door was locked behind him.
The stand-off continued and company management made repeated calls to have gardaí, but they had not arrived by 7pm when the premises was to close. Mr Slattery left after giving his employer a statement.
The company, represented by Gail Maher of employers’ group Ibec, submitted that it suspended both workers with pay to investigate the “altercation” of December 20th, 2023.
While Mr Slattery had no case to answer, “Mr B” had the allegations against him upheld, the tribunal was told.
Mr Slattery’s evidence was that he was “very open about his sexual orientation” before the latter incident but is now “afraid” of letting people know about his private life.
By the time the investigation concluded in February of last year, further difficulty had arisen over payment of sick leave after Mr Slattery took ill during his suspension. He quit on February 6th, 2024.
WRC adjudication officer Orla Jones said it had emerged at the hearing that it was not the first time “Mr B” was involved in an incident with a colleague. He was disciplined over a previous “altercation” and sent to therapy by the employer “in order to manage his anger issues”, she said.
Noting Mr Slattery’s direct evidence, as well as witness statements about “Mr B’s” comments to him, Ms Jones said she was “satisfied that this treatment was linked to the complainant’s sexual orientation”.
She said it was clear the employer “certainly” knew about Mr Slattery’s sexual orientation after the December 14th incident.
“Had some action been taken… the second incident may have been prevented,” she said.
She concluded that the employer’s actions “fell short of what is required to reverse the effects of such harassment”.
She upheld Mr Slattery’s harassment complaint and directed Liberties Recycling to pay him €12,000 in compensation.
