Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Maria  Hangurbadzova

Ladbrokes Coral Group

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

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Representatives

Damian McGeady

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 21 Equal Status Act, 2000

CA-00068996-001

02/02/2025

The complainant is Slovakian.

The Complainant alleges that she was discriminated against because of her race and her membership of the Traveller Community, on 3 March 2024 in one of the Respondent’s betting shops.

A compliant form was received by the WRC on 2 February 2025.

The Respondent’s representative put forward that as the Complainant is obliged to make a complaint to the WRC within six-months of the date of the alleged incident of discrimination, 3 March 2024, and as this complaint was received by the WRC on 2 February 2025, this complaint is out of time.

The representative stated that the Complainant had made a previous complaint against the same Respondent and had submitted their complaint form within the six-month time limit, they were aware of the time frame for making a complaint. The fact that the complainant knows the system should be considered by the Adjudication Officer and the Complainant should not get the benefit of any doubt in relation to an extension to the statutory time limit.

Regarding the ES 1 Form, the Respondent stated that the form had been sent to the UK company whereas the correct entity to which it should have been sent was the Irish company.

The Complainant stated that she had sent an email to the Respondent about the matter but she had not received a response. She sent an ES 1 Form on 1 May 2024 but again she did not get a response from the Respondent. When asked why there was such a delay between sending the ES 1 Form to the Respondent and sending a complaint form to the WRC, the complainant stated that she was waiting for and expecting a response from the Respondent.

There was no other reason put forward by the Complainant to explain the delay.

Section 6 of the 2000 Act states:

“(6) (a) Subject to subsections (3)(a)(ii) and (7), a claim for redress in respect of prohibited conduct may not be referred under this section after the end of the period of 6 months from the date of the occurrence of the prohibited conduct to which the case relates or, as the case may be, the date of its most recent occurrence.

 (b) On application by a complainant the Director of the Workplace Relations Commission or, as the case may be, the Circuit Court may, for reasonable cause, direct that in relation to the complainant paragraph (a) shall have effect as if for the reference to a period of 6 months there were substituted a reference to such period not exceeding 12 months as is specified in the direction; and, where such a direction is given, this Part shall have effect accordingly.”

The alleged incident of discrimination took place on 3 March 2024.  A complaint form relation to this alleged act of discrimination was not lodged with the WRC until 2 February 2025. It is clear that this complaint was lodged with the WRC well past the 6-month time limitation.  No reasonable cause was put forward by the Complainant to support an extension of the time limit.

In such circumstances I conclude that this complaint is out of time, and I find that I do not have jurisdiction to hear this complaint.

I do not have jurisdiction to hear this complaint.

Out of time