Deaf Job Applicant Awarded €40,000 for Indirect Disability Discrimination

In this Case, the Complainant applied for a position that included a requirement for an academic qualification in Irish Sign Language (ISL) which the Complainant did not hold. The Complainant was deaf since childhood, fluent in ISL and used ISL daily. In common with most deaf people who use ISL daily, the Complainant did not have an academic qualification in ISL.

Having received notification that his application was unsuccessful on the basis that he did not hold the relevant qualification, the Complainant submitted that the requirement for a formal academic qualification in ISL was indirectly discriminatory on the ground of disability. While the Respondent carried out an internal review of the decision which concluded that the Complainant’s grievance was upheld, it informed him that the recruitment process was closed and made no reference to possible remedies.

The Adjudicator found that the Respondent ignored its own procedures in failing to comply with the findings of its own internal review and ruled that their actions amounted to indirect discrimination against the Complainant that could not be objectively justified by a legitimate aim.

Most notably, the Adjudicator set aside the upper limit on compensation of €13,000 for access to employment cases under the Employment Equality Act and ordered the payment of €40,000 to the Complainant to comply with EU law requiring Member States to ensure that ‘compensation to the victim, must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.’

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