The Workplace Relations Commission has refused to accept a letter from suspended Derry GP Dr Anne McCloskey as evidence of disability in a man’s face mask discrimination claim.
The tribunal has rejected a complaint under the Equal Status Act by Longford man John Ryan against Gerry Ellis & Sons, trading as Fresh Today, in a decision published on Wednesday morning.
Mr Ryan had claimed he was discriminated against on June 29th, 2021 on the basis of disability when he went to buy plums for his lunch at the supermarket in the Axis Centre in Longford Town only to be stopped by an employee who he said told him to “wear a mask”.
The supermarket owner Michael Ellis denied the allegation of discrimination and said the store was “trying to keep everyone safe” in line with the information on the pandemic provided by local gardaí and the media.
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“I said I can’t wear a mask, I don’t know why you’re shaking your head,” Mr Ryan said, addressing a witness for the supermarket as he gave evidence to a remote hearing of the WRC in June. “I was just told to get out of the store if I didn’t wear a mask.”
“I get severe distress when I wear one, I get panic attacks. Since that date I have got a letter from a doctor stating that I can’t wear a face covering,” he said.
When asked on the day by a shop worker on what basis he was seeking an exemption he said he responded by asking how she would like it if he asked “if something was wrong with her”.
He went on to cite a letter which he said supported his case.
“In my professional opinion, John Ryan… has a medical condition which renders him exempt from the requirement to wear a face covering,” he said, reading from the note which he said was dated August 11th, 2021.
“And who signed that?” adjudicating officer Marguerite Buckley asked.
“Dr Anne McCloskey,” Mr Ryan said.
“And where is she based?” the adjudicator asked.
“She’s in Derry,” he replied.
“You live in Longford – is there a reason that you’re going to a GP in the North?” the adjudicator asked.
“I travel all around and a lot of GPs wouldn’t give any letters around here. It doesn’t matter what excuse you had,” he said.
In her decision, the adjudicating officer noted that Dr McCloskey had retired from practice before the Covid-19 pandemic but then returned to work for the NHS in 2020.
Dr McCloskey had been “suspended for 18 months pending an investigation into allegations of Covid-19 misinformation”, Ms Buckley wrote.
“In August 2021 the Health and Social Care Board suspended her as a ‘precautionary measure’ while a full investigation was carried out. In September 2021 the General Medical Council revealed Dr McCloskey was ‘interim suspended’ following a hearing on September 21st, 2021 at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS),” she added.
“The information obtained in relation to the GP goes to [Mr Ryan’s] credibility. While the bar for qualification of a medical condition is quite low, in view of the information provided to me as regards the GP and her suspension, I cannot accept her medical report as evidence of the extent and duration of the complainant’s illness,” she wrote.
She found Mr Ryan had not notified the shop that he had a disability as defined by the Act and that he had not established a prima facie case.
“Accordingly, I find that the complainant was not discriminated against by the respondent on grounds of disability,” Ms Buckley concluded.