A tribunal has rejected claims that a Bank of Ireland teller turned away a customer on race grounds and told the man it "didn't serve black people" after three employees testified to say the customer was being "very rude".
In a complaint under the Equal Status Act 2000, Janson Kelebeng alleged he was subjected to "racist and discriminatory remarks" and refused service when he went to a Bank of Ireland branch on 23 July last year to open an account.
Mr Kelebeng told the Workplace Relations Commission at a hearing in March that the worker he dealt with interrupted him while he spoke and "admonished" him for speaking loudly.
His evidence was that when he told the teller he spoke as he did because he was African, the teller’s response was that the bank "didn’t serve black people" and that she would not be serving him.
He added that when he went to the branch’s security guard and spoke to him about alleged "racist behaviour" he was "ordered from the building".
Giving evidence, the bank worker Mr Kelebeng dealt with told the tribunal that when she advised him he would not be able to use a debit card on his existing savings account, he "refused to listen" and "persistently" interrupted her.
She denied making any reference to Mr Kelebeng’s race at any point, or refusing him service, the tribunal noted.
A colleague sitting nearby gave corroborating evidence on this point, but said Mr Kelebeng "was very rude" to both her colleague and the security guard in the branch.
The security guard’s evidence was that Mr Kelebeng was "aggressive" towards the first worker and that his colleague made no reference to race during their interaction.
He said that when he tried to intervene, Mr Kelebeng told him he was "an old man and should not be working there".
Mr Kelebeng was "very rude" both towards him and his colleague, the security guard added.
Adjudicator Breiffni O’Neill wrote that the combined evidence of the three witnesses put forward by the bank was "more credible" than Mr Kelebeng’s.
He said the employee Mr Kelebeng dealt with was "clear and consistent" and "fully supported by that of her two colleagues, who both also stated how rude the complainant was to her".
Mr O’Neill said Mr Kelebeng had failed to establish an inference of discrimination and rejected the complaint with a finding that Bank of Ireland "did not engage in prohibited conduct" in breach of the equality legislation.
Mr Kelebeng was represented in the matter by Beibhinn Murphy BL, appearing instructed by O'Hanrahan Lally D'Alton Solicitors. Barry Walsh of Fieldfisher LLP appeared for the bank.
Reporting by Stephen Bourke
