A healthcare assistant who said he was wrongly linked to a hospital patient\u2019s allegations about being \u201cinterfered with\u201d by a worker without a \u201cscintilla of evidence\u201d has secured \u20ac10,000 for racial discrimination.<\/p>\n
Paul Agbons, an employee of 25 years\u2019 service at the Mater<\/a> hospital in Dublin, secured the compensation under the Employment Equality Act 1998.<\/p>\n A Workplace Relations Commission<\/a> (WRC) adjudicator concluded that, at a minimum, there was \u201cunconscious bias\u201d at play when a manager decided Agbons was the worker described in a letter of complaint by a patient and suspended him.<\/p>\n Hospital management decided six days later he had no case to answer, the WRC heard.<\/p>\n The inpatient, referred to as \u201cX\u201d, alleged she was \u201cinterfered with\u201d sexually over a three-night period by an unidentified worker, whom she did not name, but described as \u201ctall, dark skin, shaved head, not Irish\u201d, the WRC heard.<\/p>\n The complaint letter came in roughly six months after X was discharged, and did not name the worker or indicate the dates or times of the alleged events, the tribunal heard.<\/p>\n A senior nurse-manager, referred to as \u201cFH\u201d in a WRC decision published on Thursday, \u201czeroed in\u201d on Agbons and decided, after looking at the ward roster, that he was the only member of staff working nights who \u201cfit the description\u201d, the tribunal noted.<\/p>\n Agbons, the tribunal heard, is black, and a naturalised Irish citizen of Nigerian extraction. He gave evidence that FH called him in and told him: \u201cAn accusation has been levelled at you. It is a very weighty allegation.\u201d<\/p>\n He was left with the impression that the allegation had been made against him specifically, and not \u201cagainst a person unknown\u201d, adjudication officer Penelope McGrath wrote.<\/p>\n Agbons\u2019 barrister, Jason Murray, appearing instructed by Maria Kavanagh of Tracy Horan & Co Solicitors, said his client was \u201cwrongly identified\u201d as the subject of the complaint and accused \u201cwithout any objective basis or verification\u201d.<\/p>\n Without a \u201cscintilla of evidence\u201d that he had any connection to the complaint, Agbons was informed that he was suspended, it was submitted.<\/p>\n The suspension was \u201cdirect discrimination\u201d, Murray said, arguing his client was \u201ctreated unfairly and targeted because of his race and nationality\u201d.<\/p>\n