Clare direct provision firm ordered to pay €7,000 to Romanian worker racially abused in workplace

Gordon Deegan

A Co Clare-based direct provision firm, which has received millions of euro in State payments for housing International Protection (IP) applicants, has been ordered to pay €7,000 compensation to a Romanian worker who was racially abused by a colleague.

This follows Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator, Úna Glazier-Farmer, ordering James White & Company UC trading as The King Thomond Hotel in the north Clare town of Lisdoonvarna to pay €7,000 to Konsuela Daradics after she was discriminated against and subjected to harassment on the grounds of race by a colleague in staff accommodation.

James White & Co UC was at the centre of controversy in 2018 when IP applicants first arrived in Lisdoonvarna.

A local poll at the time showed that 197 voted ‘no’ to a direct provision centre in Lisdoonvarna with only 15 voting 'yes' and subsequent to the vote James White & Co entered a State contract to operate a direct provision centre at the King Thomond Hotel.

Figures published by the Dept of Integration show that the company received €11.39 million (incl VAT) from 2018 to the end of 2022 for accommodating IP applicants in Lisdoonvarna.

In October 2021, the company re-registered to unlimited status where it is no longer required to file its annual profits to the Companies Office.

In the case before the WRC, Ms Daradics lived in staff accommodation provided by the company for over one year and she had a good relationship with the other residents, until another employee, an Irish man, moved in.

Ms Daradics told the hearing that he was intoxicated at least every second day and around June 30th, 2024, he allegedly shouted at her, saying, “Go back to your f**king country, you f**king Romanians.”

In her findings, Ms Glazier Farmer stated that the incident of racial harassment experienced by Ms Daradics in a setting where she was entitled to feel safe and secure, is unacceptable.

Ms Glazier Farmer stated that it was Ms Daradics’s unchallenged evidence that the workplace and associated staff accommodation comprised individuals of various nationalities, and that relations among staff were generally positive.

However, Ms Glazier Farmer stated that the firm failed to provide adequate training or to communicate effective policies and procedures in respect of bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment.

She said that this failure extended not only to the workplace but also to the staff accommodation, which was under the company’s direct control and formed part of Ms Daradics’s terms and conditions of employment.

In light of this, Ms Glazier Farmer found that the company’s omissions contributed to Ms Daradics being subjected to discrimination on the grounds of race.

Ms Glazier Farmer stated that she further noted with concern the submissions made at the commencement of the James White & Co UC’s case, wherein it was asserted that the matter involved a “minor infringement,” was “nothing serious,” and amounted to a “frivolous and vexatious” complaint.

She said that these remarks “are inappropriate, particularly given the undisputed evidence of racist comments having been made in accommodation provided by the company as part of Ms Daradics’s employment package.

Ms Glazier Farmer also stated that “it is incumbent upon representatives not to mislead or diminish the substance of a complaint, particularly where such assertions are not supported by their client’s own evidence”.

It is accepted, Ms Glazier Farmer said, that an assistant manager took informal steps to investigate the allegation, although this process was not concluded.

Ms Glazier Farmer stated that it is not accepted that Ms Daradics’s early departure from her employment resolved the issue. During her time of employment, Ms Daradics earned €412.75 per week and worked 25 hours per week.

Ms Glazier Farmer said: "Despite the seriousness of the allegation being acknowledged, there is no evidence of any follow-up action taken by the Respondent to ensure that all employees were made aware of their obligations under the Employment Equality legislation, regardless of the outcome of the complaint.”

At hearing, it was also submitted on behalf of James White UC that no official complaint was made, and that there was no need for an investigation.

Assistant Manager, Jessica Bane gave evidence that racism would not be tolerated and that the matter was taken seriously.