Man settles religious discrimination case against NI hotel after saying he can't work on his Sabbath

A man has settled a religious discrimination case against a Belfast hotel for £10,000 after he allegedly had a job offer revoked due to not being able to work on the Sabbath.

Jonathan Kerr has settled the case with Pandox Belfast Limited, known as Hilton Belfast, after taking legal action against the company, with the support of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland over perceived religious discrimination.

Mr Kerr had applied for a night porter role within the hotel, however as a practising Judaeo-Christian he says that he told the hotel that he could not work from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset and does not work for an hour before or after sundown.

Read more: Former Citibank Belfast employee settles sex discrimination case for £215,000

Read more: Belfast Breakfast Baps owner was at centre of transphobic gym controversy

He says that he was open with the hotel throughout the recruitment process and specified in writing that he would be unable to work from 3pm on a Friday to 11pm on a Saturday.

The recruitment process proved to be successful for Mr Kerr and he was offered a job and signed a contract of employment which included an additional letter from Human Resources confirming that he was unable to work from sunset on Friday to sunset on a Saturday.

This job offer was revoked three days before Mr Kerr was due to start work at the hotel and was informed via email that it would be unfair to the rest of the team for one person to be off every Friday night and that the hotel required someone who was completely flexible, especially on a zero-hour contract.

Mr Kerr emailed the company to ask if he had been in a position to work on Fridays would his offer of employment have been retained. The response received said that it would be fine if he was able to work on a Friday as they could ensure fairness throughout the entire team.

Jonathan Kerr said: “I was really upset and distressed to know that I had completed the recruitment exercise successfully but yet was denied the opportunity to work because of my adherence to my faith. I made them aware of my religious observance obligations from the start of my application. I felt such a failure because I was unable to work and provide for myself.”

Mary Kitson, Senior Legal Officer, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland said: “Employers must ensure that their policies, procedures and practices are lawful. Where an employer operates a rule or policy that looks the same for everyone but in effect disadvantages people from a particular religious belief, they must show the reason for the rule or policy, what alternative arrangements they considered and why these could not be implemented. They must be able to demonstrate that their approach was appropriate and proportionate,” concluded Ms Kitson.

In settling the case, Hilton Belfast have affirmed their commitment to the principle of equality and opportunity. They have agreed to liaise with the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland to review its equal opportunities policies, practices and procedures to ensure they conform with the requirements of the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order of 1998.The company regrets any distress and injury to feelings suffered by Mr Kerr. The case was settled without admission of liability.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.