A man and his five companions were discriminated against because of his disability by a Dublin pub, which has been ordered by the Equality Tribunal to pay compensation of €1,500.
The man, referred to only as Mr BMcM, went to the pub in January 2002 to celebrate his mother's 50th birthday. He has a disability affecting balance, co-ordination and facial expressions.
He told the tribunal that when he and his family approached the pub, the doorman stopped them and refused then entry. None of them had been drinking.
When they asked for the manager, a person arrived who said he supported the doorman's decision. They went to another pub nearby and were admitted with no difficulty.
The pub, which was not named in the judgment, said the doorman concluded a number of the party were in high spirits and behaving in an exuberant and boisterous manner. He concluded they had a considerable amount of drink taken and that one of them, the young man, appeared more intoxicated than the others. The pub denied discrimination occurred.
The Equality Officer said she was satisfied the doorman did not in good faith make an independent, reasoned decision to refuse the group solely for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the Licensing Acts. No member of the group had any drink taken.
She found Mr BMcM was discriminated against on the disability ground and the five other people were discriminated against by association.
The Equality Officer ordered the pub to pay Mr BMcM €600, his mother €500 and each of the four companions €100.
In awarding compensation, she had taken into consideration the considerable distress caused to Mr BMcM for being singled out, and to his mother, who was prevented from celebrating a unique occasion, and the others in the group.
Lastly, there was complete lack of knowledge on the part of the pub in relation to Mr BMcM's disability, combined with the fact that the physical attributes of his disability coincided with those indicators of drunkenness in relation to which licensees were required to be vigilant.