German-owned discount retailer, Lidl Ireland has been ordered to pay €8,000 compensation to a mother of an autistic boy who was left distressed by repeated demands that the boy's assistance dog be removed from a Lidl store.
At the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Adjudicator, Marguerite Buckley has ordered Lidl Ireland to pay the €8,000 compensation to the un-named mother for discrimination under the Equal Status Act "as well as the distress suffered by her son".
The incident took place at Lidl Ireland’s Nangor Rd store at Clondalkin in Dublin on 29 April 2022 and the mother told the WRC hearing that her son uses a service dog provided to him by registered charity, 'My Canine Companion’.
The dog is a Labradoodle/Retriever and wears a Hi-Viz green jacket with a handle and the boy holds the handle when necessary, depending on his needs.
The mother - representing herself in the case - told the hearing that on entering the store, she was approached by a security guard and told that no dogs were allowed in the store.
The mother advised the security guard that the dog was a service dog that had full access rights to the store and advised him to "learn his job".
The mother said that the Store Manager then asked her to leave the store with the dog and told her dogs were not allowed in the store.
The mother again pointed out that this was a service dog that had full access rights and he should not ask her to leave.
The mother said that she found his tone condescending and it upset her and she felt her son was getting agitated by the interaction.
The mother said that she told the Store Manager that her son had special needs and pointed to the jacket on the dog and read out what it said.
She advised that she would not leave the store and invited them to call the Guards and said it was a disgrace that both security and management did not know the rights of people with assistance dogs.
The woman said that he asked him if he would ask a blind person with a guide dog to leave the store.
The mother continued her shopping and reassured her son they had the right to be in the store and hugged him as required.
The woman called her husband as a precaution in case her son had a serious meltdown.
The mother told the WRC that she found the entire interaction very disgraceful and distressing.
The mother said that her son still remembers the incident and it had a negative effect on him.
She said she had to "stand up for herself and her son".
The mother submitted that she and her son should have been allowed to shop in the store without being bothered and the Hi-Viz jacket worn by their dog should have been recognised as identifying it as an assistance dog and they should not be approached or interrogated in the manner they were.
The woman explained that she had a similar experience in the same store in 2018 and complained to the retailer's Head Office at the time and received a letter of apology and an assurance that staff would be educated so it would not happen again.
A €50 donation was made to the Canine Companion charity at the time.
In her findings, Ms Buckley found that the fact that the Complainant stood her ground and refused to leave the Lidl Ireland premises does not lessen the treatment she received from Lidl Ireland’s Store manager or security guard.
Ms Buckley stated that the mother described the interactions as very upsetting for herself and it caused her son to become agitated.
She noted that from CCTV evidence the interaction with the Store Manager lasted a minute and a half.
"That is quite a long time for an interaction to check if a dog was an assistance dog," Ms Buckley remarked.
She stated that the mother described how the Store Manager asked her three times during that interaction to leave the store.
Ms Buckley said that this "is less favourable treatment" on discrimination grounds under the Equal Status Act.
Ms Buckley found that while the disability may not have been immediately apparent to Lidl Ireland, its servants or agents, "I find on the facts that the assistance dog was wearing a Hi-Viz vest and signage and had a special harness that identified it was an assistance dog and was easily distinguishable from other dogs".
Ms Buckley stated that by noting the dog and its signage, she was satisfied from the evidence that a disability would have been known to Lidl Ireland at the time the mother and her son entered the Lidl Ireland premises.
In evaluating compensation, Ms Buckley noted that this was the second occasion that the mother experienced less favourable treatment at the same store.
Ms Buckley stated that while admirable that Lidl Ireland's Head Office was doing so much work in the area of disabilities, the fact remains that in 2022 two members of the team, direct worker and contacted security guard were unfamiliar with Lidl Ireland’s own policies and best practice in dealing with an assistance dog.
She said that "they both requested an assistance dog to be removed from the store on a number of occasions".
Ms Buckley stated that the Complainant was forced in a challenging situation to educate Lidl Ireland staff and agents as to the legal entitlement for the assistance dog to be in the shop.
In its submission denying discrimination, Lidl Ireland stated it is accepted that the behaviour of the Store manager was far from the standard expected by its employees or agents.
Lidl Ireland stated that however, in mitigation it noted that neither the Store Manager nor the third-party security guard removed the assistance dog from the store.
Lidl Ireland submitted that although the interactions were regrettable and poor errors of judgement, they did not prevent the mother from completing her shopping on 29 April 2022.
The retailer advanced that it was not unreasonable nor discriminatory for its staff to take reasonable steps to engage with customers to establish the bona fide is for the presence of an assistance animal in store.
Lidl Ireland reiterated that it was not discriminatory in its actions and its efforts to assist customers on the autism spectrum should be taken into account in reaching my decision.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
