Fórsa welcomes WRC decision on discriminatory advertising

Fórsa trade union has welcomed the outcome of an adjudication at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) concerning online advertising.

The WRC decision found that Daft Media Limited was ‘vicariously liable’ for online adverts, with likely implications for other Irish platforms hosting discriminatory content.

The decision follows a three-year long legal action by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) against Daft Media Ltd’s publication, online, of discriminatory rental adverts on its property website daft.ie.

The case was taken by the IHREC under section 23 of the Equal Status Act after it identified a number of adverts that discriminated on the grounds of housing status, the grounds of age and also family status.

The adverts included terms directed towards prospective tenants, which read “rent allowance not accepted”; “suit family or professionals only”; “would suit young professionals” and “references required.”

Welcoming the decision, Fórsa’s head of equality Andy Pike (pictured) said the decision vindicated the rights of prospective tenants: “We are especially pleased to note the inclusion of a prohibition on adverts stating that prospective tenants on rent supplement or other benefits will not be accepted by landlords.

“This highlights the risks faced by those on low incomes, who due to discrimination on the grounds of economic status by Landlords, may be at more risk of homelessness,” he said.

The full text of the decision is available here.

A full statement by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is available here.