FAIR EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL

CASE REF:	00109/98FET

APPLICANT:	Edith McCandless

RESPONDENTS:	1.	Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance	
	2.	Noel Griffin	
	3.	John Corey	

DECISION
The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the applicant was not discriminated against by the respondent on the grounds of her religious belief and her application is dismissed.
Appearances:
The applicant did not attend and was not represented.
The respondent was represented by Mr B Mulqueen, Barrister-at-Law, instructed by McCartan Turkington  & Breen, Solicitors.
1.	The applicant had indicated before the hearing that she would be unable to attend and submitted a bundle of documentation for consideration by the Tribunal.  At the outset Mr Mulqueen objected to the Tribunal viewing these documents in their entirety as they also related to other cases which the applicant has lodged and which are ongoing.  The Tribunal considered that it would be possible to view the documents in their entirety and consider only those portions relating to the application before us.  The Tribunal took into account the relative portions of these documents together with the originating application as submissions made by the applicant.

2.	The applicant’s case to the Tribunal was that she had been discriminated against by the respondents in relation to the support and legal assistance provided to her by the respondents resulting from a complaint which she had arising out of activities of the Trade Union Branch 323 at the Ulster Museum.  The applicant argued that the discrimination against her resulted from her religious belief which was that of Protestant.  She stated that the second and third respondents were Roman Catholic and their failure to act on her behalf was because of her religion.

3.	The Tribunal heard evidence that the issues in this case originally arose in August 1997 when the applicant contacted the second respondent regarding clarification of the Declarations of Protection of 1994 and 1996 in relation to an incident at the Ulster Museum.  The applicant was complaining about the activities of Marga Folley, amongst others.  The Tribunal heard evidence from Mr Griffin that he was asked to assist Miss Folley in relation to this incident and in those circumstances he felt it inappropriate to represent both people and requested the third respondent, Mr Corey, to arrange assistance for the applicant.  It was accepted by the respondents that the applicant was entitled to assistance from the Union.  Mr J McCabe was appointed to represent the applicant in relation to the incident but she did not take up the offer when made and neither did she indicate that the offer was inappropriate.  The Tribunal also heard evidence from Mr Corey, Mr McCabe and Mr McCusker, the first respondent’s General Secretary, regarding the actions of the respondents in relation to the applicant’s complaints and her requests for advice and assistance.  Her correspondence with the respondent and their replies to her were considered by the Tribunal.  The Tribunal heard evidence of the respondent’s actions as a result of the requests and was satisfied that there was no evidence of any discriminatory action taken by the respondents against the applicant.  Her complaints were considered and responded to and Mr McCabe was appointed to assist her but this assistance and offers to meet were not responded to.  The Tribunal having considered all available evidence therefore found that there was no evidence to support a claim of discrimination on the grounds of religious belief and the application is dismissed.

Chairman

Date and place of hearing:  6 June 2002 Belfast

Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: