The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has dismissed an action taken by a man who claimed he was the victim of religious discrimination contrary to Section 21 Equal Status Act 2000 after a Dublin bakery refused to provide him with a cake with an anti-gay marriage message. In making their adjudication the WRC found that the complainant had failed to establish a prima facie case of discriminatory treatment having provided no facts to demonstrate that he was treated less favourably because of his religious beliefs or that the bakery had refused to take his order because he was a Christian.
The complainant entered the bakery in May 2016 and asked to place an order for a large cake with the message: “BY THE GRACE OF THE GOOD LORD, I (name redacted), ORIGINALLY OF (address redacted) and c/o (other addresses redacted) that in my honest opinion – “GAY MARRIAGE” IS A PERVERSION OF EQUALITY and the 34th Amendment to the Irish Constitution should be REPEALED.” He subsequently sent several emails and letters by registered post with further details of the order he wished to place. Having received word from the bakery that they would be unable to fulfil the order, the complainant notified the bakery that he would be taking a legal claim under the Equal Status Act. In his submissions to the WRC he made extensive reference to the Asher’s Bakery case and stated that he wished to “balance out” the findings in that matter.
In making their submissions to the WRC, the respondent bakery stated that they were unaware of the complainant’s religious beliefs throughout the entire incident. The managing director of the bakery told the WRC that the length and detail of the message requested by the complainant for his cake were well beyond the norm and that, given how busy they were when he attempted to place the order, they were not in a position to accept such an elaborate request. They concluded their representations to the WRC by stating that they found his request to be “ill-founded and vexatious”.
In dismissing the complaint, the WRC found that the complainant had failed to provide facts in the first instance demonstrating discriminatory conduct on the part of the bakery.
The WRC’s decision can be read in full here.
PILA’s earlier feature on the Asher’s Bakery case can be found here.