A Longford man has told the Workplace Relations Commission that he went to a GP in Derry to get a medical certificate exempting him from the face mask rules in place last summer.<\/p>\n
John Ryan, with an address at Dun Darrach in Longford Town, told a WRC discrimination hearing that the cert was signed by Derry GP Dr Anne McCloskey. <\/p>\n
In his claim against Gerry Ellis & Sons Ltd, trading as Fresh Today at the Axis Centre in the town, Mr Ryan alleges he was discriminated against on the grounds of disability on 29 June 2021. He said he went to buy plums for his lunch at the grocery shop only to be stopped by an employee who told him to \u201cwear a mask\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said I can\u2019t wear a mask — I don\u2019t know why you\u2019re shaking your head,\u201d he said, addressing a defence witness. \u201cI was just told to get out of the store if I didn\u2019t wear a mask,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in the shop in Longford a lot and I\u2019ve never had this happen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s only a manager who can ask you if you\u2019re exempt or to wear a face mask,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get severe distress when I wear one, I get panic attacks. Since that date [29 June 2021] I have got a letter from a doctor stating that I can\u2019t wear a face covering,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The adjudicating officer Marguerite Buckley asked him to submit it by email to the WRC and read it aloud to the hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my professional opinion, John Ryan\u2026 has a medical condition which renders him exempt from the requirement to wear a face covering,\u201d he said, reading from the note, adding that it was dated 11 August 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd who signed that?\u201d Ms Buckley asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr Anne McCloskey,\u201d Mr Ryan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd where is she based?\u201d the adjudicator asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s in Derry,\u201d he replied, and confirmed that Dr McCloskey was his GP.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou live in Longford \u2013 is there a reason that you\u2019re going to a GP in the North?\u201d the adjudicator asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI travel all around and a lot of GPs wouldn\u2019t give any letters around here. It doesn\u2019t matter what excuse you had,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ms Buckley put it to him that he didn\u2019t have that letter with him on the day of the incident at the shop, and he confirmed that he had not.<\/p>\n
But he maintained the regulations in force at the time afforded him a \u201creasonable excuse\u201d on the grounds that wearing a mask caused distress.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time you didn\u2019t need a letter from a doctor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Michael Ellis, who appeared as the company representative, said the store\u2019s policy at the time was to offer a face mask to customers who weren\u2019t wearing one.<\/p>\n
Garda\u00ed had come to the shop to advise them that if customers \u201cdidn\u2019t wear a mask and they said they were exempt and they hadn\u2019t a letter of exemption\u201d the shop was to phone and report the matter, he said.<\/p>\n
Cross-examined by Mr Ellis, Mr Ryan said he did not wait for the garda\u00ed because he was on his lunch break.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went in to get some plums, why should I wait?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shop supervisor Edel Brady said she noticed Mr Ryan had no mask on when he went to pass behind her and that she asked him if he would mind putting one on.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said no, he wasn\u2019t wearing a mask. I asked him why \u2013 he said because he had an exemption,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said she told him that they had been advised by the garda\u00ed that he \u201chad to show a letter to prove he had an exemption\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Brady said that he objected to this on privacy grounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said to him I never asked him what was wrong with him, I didn\u2019t want to know what was wrong with him \u2013 I just needed an exemption letter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The interaction continued with Mr Ryan continuing to to tell her he did not want to disclose the information, she said.<\/p>\n
Eventually she told him their conversation \u201cwas not getting anywhere\u201d and that she had been advised to call the garda\u00ed in the circumstances, she said.<\/p>\n
At this point Mr Ryan turned around and went back out the door, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not at any point ask him to leave\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says he can\u2019t get a letter from anywhere except by going to Derry, but we had numerous people coming into the shop with letters of exemption,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The adjudicating officer, Ms Buckley, closed the hearing to consider her decision \u2013 telling the parties they were not likely to receive it for a number of months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Longford man has told the Workplace Relations Commission that he went to a GP in Derry to get a medical certificate exempting him from the face mask rules in place last summer.<\/p>\n
John Ryan, with an address at Dun Darrach in Longford Town, told a WRC discrimination hearing that the cert was signed by Derry GP Dr Anne McCloskey. <\/p>\n
In <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":32629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n