German-owned retailer Lidl Ireland has been ordered to pay €8,000 compensation to a mother of an autistic boy who was left distressed by repeated demands that the boy’s assistance dog be removed from a Lidl store.
At the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), adjudicator Marguerite Buckley ordered Lidl Ireland GMBH to pay the €8,000 compensation to the unnamed mother for discrimination under the Equal Status Act “as well as the distress suffered by her son”.
The incident took place at Lidl Ireland’s Nangor Road store at Clondalkin in Dublin on April 29th, 2022, and the mother told the WRC hearing that her son uses a service dog provided to him by registered charity My Canine Companion.
The dog is a labradoodle/retriever and wears a hi-vis green jacket with a handle. The boy holds the handle when necessary, depending on his needs.
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The mother – representing herself in the case – told the hearing that on entering the store, she was approached by a security guard and told that no dogs were allowed in the store. The mother advised the security guard that the dog was a service dog that had full access rights to the shop and advised him to “learn his job”.
The mother said the shop manager then asked her to leave with the dog and told her dogs were not allowed in the store. The mother again pointed out this was a service dog that had full access rights and he should not ask her to leave.
The mother said that she found his tone condescending and it upset her and she felt her son was getting agitated by the interaction. The woman said she asked the manager if he would ask a blind person with a guide dog to leave the shop, and she continued her shopping.
She told the WRC she found the entire interaction disgraceful and distressing. She said her son still remembered the incident and it had a negative effect on him. She said she had to “stand up for herself and her son”.
The woman explained she had a similar experience in the same shop in 2018 and complained to the retailer’s head office at the time and received a letter of apology and an assurance that staff would be educated so it would not happen again. A €50 donation was made to the My Canine Companion charity at the time.
In her findings, Ms Buckley found that the fact that the complainant stood her ground and refused to leave the Lidl Ireland premises does not lessen the treatment she received from Lidl Ireland’s store manager or security guard.
While the disability may not have been immediately apparent to Lidl Ireland, its servants or agents, “I find on the facts that the assistance dog was wearing a hi-vis vest and signage and had a special harness that identified it was an assistance dog and was easily distinguishable from other dogs”, Ms Buckley said.
In evaluating compensation, Ms Buckley noted that this was the second occasion that the mother experienced less favourable treatment at the same shop.
In its submission denying discrimination, Lidl Ireland said that although the interactions were regrettable and poor errors of judgment they did not prevent the mother from completing her shopping on April 29th, 2022.
Lidl Ireland advanced that it was not unreasonable nor discriminatory for its staff to take reasonable steps to engage with customers to establish bona fides for the presence of an assistance animal in store.
Lidl Ireland reiterated that it was not discriminatory in its actions, and its efforts to assist customers on the autism spectrum should be taken into account in reaching my decision.
