The Irish arm of supermarket giant Tesco has been ordered to pay €6,000 compensation to blind Paralympian Nadine Lattimore after she and her guide dog, Pilot, were initially refused entry to three Tesco Dublin stores.
It is the fourth discrimination payout that Ms Lattimore has received across 2025 and 2024 concerning cases she has taken to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) under the Equal Status Act, and she has now received a cumulative €20,000.
Ms Lattimore, who represented Ireland in track and field in the London Paralympic Games in 2012, is blind and has been a guide dog user for 16 years.
In the case against Tesco Ireland Ltd, Ms Lattimore was claiming that she was discriminated against when initially refused entry at Tesco stores in Adamstown on June 3rd 2024, and at Spencer Dock and Parnell Street on July 16th 2024.
Ms Lattimore was initially refused entry by staff from security firm, OCS Group Ireland Ltd, and WRC Adjudicator, Ms Patricia Owens found that Tesco is vicariously liable for the actions of the OCS staff involved in all three incidents alleged by Ms Lattimore.
Ms Lattimore contended that on each occasion she was with her clearly identifiable harnessed guide dog, Pilot.
She outlined that the equipment worn by her guide dog as issued by Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) included a white leather body harness with 2 IGDB identifiers, a high visibility yellow handle piece with the sign “Please don’t distract me – I’m a working Guide Dog!”, and a high visibility yellow IGDB flash on the lead.
In the decision concerning TESCO, Ms Owens records that Ms Lattimore was initially prevented from entering all three stores of TESCO, not to check if she had an assistance dog, but to be told she could not enter with a dog.
Ms Owens stated that she was also satisfied that Ms Lattimore was publicly confronted in the manner in which this was done and that it should have been immediately evident to the security staff involved that she was a blind person using the assistance of a guide dog.
Ms Owens states that Ms Lattimore and her dog were not accommodated upon arrival, nor was she asked for identification.
Ms Owens stated that Ms Lattimore was simply refused entry, and she described the impact of these events as making her feel “other”.
Ms Owens stated that at the hearing that Ms Lattimore presented as an independent individual who simply wished to go about her normal day-to-day business as others without her disability do each day without disruption.
Ms Owens stated that Ms Lattimore described very well the impact on her and on her young son arising from the actions of the security staff involved, and, in those circumstances, it is understandable that she no longer wished to avail of goods and services in the stores despite the efforts of Tesco employees.
Ms Owens stated that in the circumstances, Ms Lattimore was discriminated against by Tesco in not providing her with reasonable accommodation and that her complaint was well-founded.
Tesco contested Ms Lattimore’s discrimination claim over two days at the WRC and called on evidence from five managerial staff from the three stores.
Tesco stated that Ms Lattimore was not treated any differently as a result of a disability, and that Ms Lattimore’s complaints “amounted to an objection to a reasonable enquiry from security personnel at the Respondent’s stores regarding whether the Complainant’s dog was a guide dog”.
Tesco stated that it and its employees had an entitlement to make discreet and respectful enquiries to ensure that its policy regarding dogs in its premises was being complied with.
Tesco contended that Ms Lattimore was not treated any differently to any other individual who arrived at its premises with a dog.
Tesco stated that where it was unclear to its employees that the relevant dog was a guide dog, Tesco was entitled to make a respectful enquiry from the dog owner.
In conclusion, Tesco submitted that Ms Lattimore was not prevented from obtaining the goods and services made available by it and that a respectful enquiry regarding the status of the dog accompanying her did not amount to unlawful discrimination under the Equal Status Act.
As part of her order, Ms Owens has directed that Tesco Ireland put in place measures to ensure that staff of any subcontractor are trained in relation to their obligations regarding compliance with the provisions of the Equal Status Act.
Ms Owens has also ordered Tesco Ireland to display “Guide Dogs & Assistance Dogs Welcome” signage at the entrance to all their stores.
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In her other successful discrimination claims in July 2024, the WRC ordered Dealz to pay Ms Lattimore €7,000 compensation when she was challenged at a Dealz store at the Ilac Centre in Dublin in June 2023.
In September 2024, the WRC ordered German discount retailer, Lidl to pay €2,000 compensation to Ms Lattimore after she was asked to move away from a bakery section in one of its stores because of her guide dog in February 2024.
In December 2024, the Eddie Rockets chain of restaurants was ordered to pay €5,000 compensation to Ms Lattimore after she was left ‘humiliated and upset’ when a worker refused her request to sit elsewhere in one of its restaurants.
In a separate decision published earlier this week, Ms Lattimore failed in an equality claim at the WRC against a convenience store in Dublin, NM Palmerston Retail Investments Ltd, trading as Centra on Parnell Street in Dublin 1.