Ireland: Gay rights group welcomes employment discrimination ruling
Ireland’s Equality Tribunal has ordered a credit union to pay €24,000 (£20,190) towards an employee as a result of discrimination and victimisation on the basis of their sexual orientation.
In a statement on Tuesday, Davin Roche, director of workplace diversity at the Irish Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), welcomed the decision and said: “The Equality Tribunal’s decision is a sharp reminder to all employers of their duty to protect staff from discrimination and that this duty also extends to protecting staff who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender from harassment in their workplaces.”
According to GLEN, there are over 100,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the workforce in Ireland.
Irish research has found that one quarter of LGBT employees surveyed had experienced verbal harassment on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their careers.
“Good employers understand the business case for ensuring their workplaces are inclusive. Essentially, people perform best when they can be themselves,” continued Mr Roche.
“Clearly, it’s better for employers and employees to ensure that their workplaces are free from harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the first place.”
