Anthony Corcoran and ors v. The Black Lion Pub DEC – S2004-063-066  

Two Traveller couples were refused service in a bar and complained of discriminatory treatment under the Equal Status Act 2000 The Equality Tribunal found that against the applicants concluding refusal of service was not on the grounds of their ethnicity. 

Facts 

Two married couples from the Traveller Community were refused service in the Black Lion pub and were told: "Regulars only".   

A barman of the pub had been drinking in a nearby pub and had seen the men arguing and then leaving for the Black Lion. He told the Black Lion manager that “troublemakers” were on the way. When the group entered, the manager refused them service.  

They complained that this was discrimination. 

Issues 

To established a prima facie case of discrimination the following needs to be established:  

(a) Applicability of the discriminatory ground (in this case the Traveller ground).  

(b) Evidence of specific treatment of the complainant by the respondent. 

(c) Evidence that the treatment received by the complainants was less favourable than the treatment another person received, or would have received, in similar circumstances, where that person is not a Traveller.  

If the complainants establish these elements discrimination is assumed and the burden of proof shifts. The respondent must then show established that differential treatment was not due to discrimination. 

Reasoning 

The complainants are members of the Traveller Community and it was agreed that there was a refusal of service, satisfying sections (a) and (b) above. However, the Equality Officer found that they had not established part (c). Critical to this were the following: the complainants had not mentioned their ethnicity during the incident. 

The complainants admitted that one of their group had been refused in the nearby bar, although they denied that there was an aggressive discussion of this. However, the barman’s evidence that he had witnessed a disturbance at a nearby pub was found to be compelling. The refusal in the Black Lion was made by the manager on foot of information given to him by a member of his staff whose judgement he trusted.   

The Officer concluded that she was satisfied that settled people in similar circumstances would have been treated in a similar fashion.  

Conclusion 

The complainants failed to show that the treatment they received was less favourable due to them being Travellers. The WRC therefore found that the respondent had not discriminated against them when they service was refused in the bar.