Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) pays £50,000 to hearing-impaired man in employment discrimination case

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Christopher Morrow worked as a park ranger at Crawfordsburn Country Park for three and a half years, through an agency, from May 2018.

He has moderate to severe hearing loss, wears hearing aids in both ears and reads facial expressions and body language. He can have difficulty hearing people depending on how close they are to him and the layout and acoustics of his surroundings.

While he was working at the park, permanent park ranger jobs were advertised and he applied for a position, noting his disability on his application form.

Before his interview, he asked a manager if it was possible to have the interview questions in written form during the interview, which would have helped him to understand questions and answer without asking for them to be repeated.

The Equality Commission, which supported his case, said this request was immediately refused. He also emailed the DAERA Human Resources department to ask that all the panel members be made aware of his disability.

His interview, in February 2021, was held in a large room, with a wooden floor and a high ceiling. The panel was seated behind a screen about 15 – 20 feet away from Mr Morrow. He said that a panel member talked with his head down and spoke very quickly, making it very difficult to hear him. The panel members did not ask Mr Morrow if he needed any adjustments, the commission said.

Fifteen park rangers were later appointed, but Mr Morrow was not one of them. Feedback from his interview noted that he "asked for multiple repetitions of questions meaning the interview ran over time".

Mr Morrow said: “I tried on several occasions to make DAERA aware of my disability and requested some simple adjustments at interview that would have really helped me in the recruitment process. I was very disappointed indeed that I missed out on the opportunity for a permanent position in a job I really enjoyed. I had a legal right to reasonable adjustments to allow me to compete on a level playing field, and I think what I asked for was simple and straightforward.”

Speaking about the settlement, Mary Kitson, Senior Legal Officer with the Equality Commission, said: “The Disability Discrimination Act requires employers to introduce reasonable adjustments to recruitment and selection procedures for applicants with disabilities, to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.”

DAERA paid Mr Morrow £50,000 without admission of liability. As part of the settlement it undertook, with the Department of Finance, to liaise with the Equality Commission to review policies, practices and procedures and implement any reasonable recommendations from the commission.

A DAERA spokesman said: “It is not appropriate to comment on individual employment matters. DAERA will closely consider the outcome of this case, working with the Equality Commission NI, and implement any lessons learned.”