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Can I sue for racial discrimination if the person discriminating me is mistaken abou

  • 17-09-2019 04:51PM
    #1
    sexmag
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,303 ✭✭✭


    Hypothetical but something I would like to know.

    I am a white man who can sometimes be mistaken as Asian.

    Say I am refused entry to a pub/restaurant by security because they do not allow asians in there, this part is all cut and dry. It's on camera etc that this is the reason I have been refused entry.

    Can I then hypothetically sue them for racial discrimination? Even though I am a white man and not actually the race they were discriminating against but was perceived to be?


Comments

  • #2
    Lusk_Doyle
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,338 ✭✭✭Lusk_Doyle


    I think that you've hypothetically answered your own question!


  • #3
    belfe
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 66 ✭✭belfe


    Yes, you can do it even if you overhear that they don't allow pass to Asians while you are passing.

    But I'd say that you will never hear that. They will tell to any Asian that place is full while other people is allowed in. Or "private party".


  • #4
    Hoboo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,860 ✭✭✭Hoboo


    I was once refused entry to a bar for being black, even though I'm white :rolleyes:


  • #5
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,035 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    sexmag wrote: »
    Say I am refused entry to a pub/restaurant by security because they do not allow asians in there, this part is all cut and dry. It's on camera etc that this is the reason I have been refused entry.

    They 'hypothetically' declare on camera (with audio, to record their voices) that they are refusing you because you are Asian. That's some imagination you have.


  • #6
    sexmag
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,303 ✭✭✭sexmag


    I would like to point this scenario is entirely made up in my head, it doesnt actually happen.

    I am just asking and stacking the deck against a discriminating party to see what the legal basis are and if they are even applicable


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  • #7
    CrankyHaus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,280 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    What bar in Ireland would ever refuse someone because they thought they were Asian?
    Did you mean Aslan maybe? I could see that shower being turned away if they looked the worse for wear.


  • #8
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 28,401 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    It's a hypothetical. Peopel shouldn't get steamed up about a how plausible it is that a hypothetical could actually occur in reality.

    But, if you want a slightly more plausible hypothetical, suppose I conclude that you are homosexual based on stereotypes of your mannerisms, affect, tastes, habits and choice of friends, and I treat you less favourably than I would treat someone I thought was heterosexual. You are not in fact homosexual. Is my behaviour unlawful under the Equal Status Act?

    Yes, is the answer; it is unlawful. Sexual orientation is one of the "discriminatory grounds" listed in the Act. For the purposes of the Act, discrimination occurs if someone is treated less favourably on any of the discriminatory grounds which:

    - actually exists, or

    - existed in the past but no longer does, or

    - may exist in the future, or

    - is imputed to the person concerned.

    So, I decide you're gay and treat you less favourably for that reason; this is discrimination regardless of whether you are gay or not. Same goes if I decide you are of a particular ethnicity, and treat you less favourably for that reason.


  • #9
    sexmag
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,303 ✭✭✭sexmag


    Peregrinus wrote: »
    It's a hypothetical. Peopel shouldn't get steamed up about a how plausible it is that a hypothetical could actually occur in reality.

    But, if you want a slightly more plausible hypothetical, suppose I conclude that you are homosexual based on stereotypes of your mannerisms, affect, tastes, habits and choice of friends, and I treat you less favourably than I would treat someone I thought was heterosexual. You are not in fact homosexual. Is my behaviour unlawful under the Equal Status Act?

    Yes, is the answer; it is unlawful. Sexual orientation is one of the "discriminatory grounds" listed in the Act. For the purposes of the Act, discrimination occurs if someone is treated less favourably on any of the discriminatory grounds which:

    - actually exists, or

    - existed in the past but no longer does, or

    - may exist in the future, or

    - b is imputed to the person concerned[/b].

    So, I decide you're gay and treat you less favourably for that reason; this is discrimination regardless of whether you are gay or not. Same goes if I decide you are of a particular ethnicity, and treat you less favourably for that reason.

    Thank you

    I don't understand why no one read my original and follow up comment about it being hypothetical.

    Your answer is clear and consistent and exactly what I was asking.

    Thanks again


  • #10
    Samuel T. Cogley
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,679 ✭✭✭✭Samuel T. Cogley


    People without the answers like to pick up on the small things. Hence why I do it all the time :pac: Your OP is exactly what the forum is about IMHO.


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