Annual Report 2004.pdf - Equality Authority

5. Svetlana Koujoukharenko v ArantronicsThe complainant was awarded €15,000 bythe Labour Court in compensation fordiscriminatory dismissal on grounds ofrace and gender. The respondent lodgedan appeal to the Circuit Court andsubsequently withdrew the appeal on theday of the hearing. The complainant wasnot represented in either of theseproceedings but subsequently soughtassistance from the Equality Authority tosecure enforcement of the Labour Courtaward, which had been made an order ofthe Circuit Court on the 23rd October 2002.The Equality Authority agreed to representthe complainant and after someconsiderable correspondence with thesolicitors for the respondent, waseventually informed that they had nofurther instructions in the matter. TheEquality Authority then proceeded toobtain an execution order and lodged itwith the Sheriff of County Galway forexecution on the 3rd of October 2003.Since that date, the Sheriff has sent a totalof ten cheques for €500 each to theEquality Authority which he says he isaccepting “on account” from therespondent. The Sheriff has stated that hereceived an undertaking that the debtwould be discharged in due course but hasnot seized goods and has not declared therespondent nulla bona. No details of thetime scale in which the money is to bepaid have been received by thecomplainant or the Equality Authority.To date the amount outstanding is €10,000in respect of the balance of the award plusinterest at 8% per annum.6. FÁS - SettlementsA Polish national was refused access to aFÁS course. The Galway CitizensInformation Centre contacted the EqualityAuthority to state that they had a letterfrom FÁS confirming that “Jobseekers fromaccession countries will not be eligible forFÁS training and employmentprogrammes”. This was despite the factthat Poland had become part of the EUfrom 1st May 2004.FÁS initially cited concerns about apossible upsurge in social welfarepayments as the reason for this exclusion.After further correspondence FÁS statedthat, following legal advice and instructionfrom the Department of Enterprise, Tradeand Employment, citizens from the newmember states were to be granted accessto all its programmes and employmentschemes with immediate effect.7. NursesThe complainant was a nurse fromoverseas and recruited through an Agency.Part of her conditions of employment wasa series of assessment tests. There was apositive outcome from the first test. The42 • Equality Authority Annual Report 2004