A beauty salon has been ordered to pay a Traveller woman and her daughters €500 each in compensation for discrimination after insisting they pay cash up front for their beauty treatments.
The Workplace Relations Commission has upheld complaints under the Equal Status Act 2000 by the woman and her two daughters against the unidentified beauty salon in a set of decisions published today.
In her evidence to the tribunal, Ms A said she and her daughters went to the salon as a “birthday treat” for one of the girls, and on arrival was informed by a hairdresser that the business would “only accept cash”.
Upon inquiring about the full cost, the owner called Ms A to the counter and showed her a sum on a calculator, the complainant said. She said that she asked for an itemised breakdown of the figure, upon which the owner became “infuriated”.
Ms A said the owner struck the counter with two hands and said “something to the effect” of: “Do you want it for free? Are you trying to rob me?”
The complainant added that the owner also threatened to call the police, and continued to be “rude and aggressive” to the point that one of her daughters became upset and suggested that they leave.
Ms A said it was made clear she would have to pay up front for all the procedures, and that one of the hairdressers also suggested she “run across the road to the ATM”.
She said that before she went out, the hairdresser told her the reason the owner had behaved as she had was because a group of girls had been in the week before and failed to pay for procedures.
The hairdresser said this group were “also Travellers”, the complainant said in her evidence.
Ms A said that having paid up front as requested, other customers who had been in line behind her and her family were served ahead of her.
It was “so obvious” that this was happening, the complainant said, that another customer, a member of the settled community, noticed one of her daughters was “visibly upset” and offered to let the girl go ahead of her.
“Other customers who were not members of the Traveller community were not asked to pay for their treatments up front,” the complainant told the hearing, adding that she knew because she had asked two other customers and they had confirmed this to her.
Sinead Lucey, managing solicitor at the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC), submitted that the insistence on cash up front, the fact that Ms A was “shouted at”, and that Ms A and her daughters were left to queue longer all amounted to less favourable treatment of her clients as members of the Travelling community.
Adjudication officer Orla Jones noted the failure of the business’s management to attend a hearing on the case which was held in Dublin on 24 February this year.
In her decision, Ms Jones wrote that she was satisfied Ms A and her daughters were subjected to less favourite treatment while being served at the salon on the grounds of their membership of the Traveller Community.
She upheld the three complaints, awarding Ms A, Ms M and Ms K compensation of €500 each, totalling €1,500.
Ms Jones anonymised all three of her decisions on the cases, also redacting the name of the business, in order to protect identities of the two underage complainants.
In a press statement circulated today by FLAC, Ms A welcomed the WRC decision and offered thanks to the the non-profit legal support body, without which she said she could not have pursued the matter.
Ms A said: “We did not take these cases for money… As a mother, I want my girls to know that people cannot and should not treat them badly because they come from the Traveller community.”
Eilis Barry, FLAC Chief Executive, said: “The family showed great bravery and resilience in taking these complaints. Unfortunately, there is no legal aid for victims of discrimination who take cases to the WRC. This means it is impossible for many people to challenge discrimination and to access compensation for its effects.”
Ms Barry called for the removal of the “blanket ban on legal aid for cases heard by tribunals like the WRC” and more support for legal services for the Travelling Community and “other groups with high levels of legal need”.
