Is this Discrimination? Discussion Scenarios

1. Is this Discrimination? Discussion Scenarios www.equalityni.org

2. Situation 1 You have dyslexia and need extra time to read and understand written information. You apply for a job and are invited to sit a written test that is part of the short-listing process. You ask for extra time to do the test. The employer refuses, saying that it is unlikely that anyone who fails to complete the test within the time allowed would progress to the next stage and be interviewed. Is this discrimination?

3. Situation 2 You are 17 years old and have a part-time job in a local supermarket. Without consulting you, the manager consistently gives you the late evening shifts while older workers are allowed to choose which shifts they work. You complain that it’s not fair and the manager says that it’s always been company policy that older workers get the choice of shifts. Is this discrimination?

4. Situation 3 You are an Irish Traveller. You are trying to book a hotel function room for a family reunion meal. The hotel asks you to pay half of the estimated bill up front because they say the last Irish Traveller customers left without paying. Is this discrimination

5. Situation 4 You are a Home Economics teacher in a secondary school. One boy asks to do the GCSE Home Economics course. In your last school, there was only one boy in the HE class and because he got a really hard time from the girls he withdrew from the class before exam time. Because you fear the same thing will happen with this pupil you tell him that he must take a subject more traditionally associated with boys. Did you do the right thing?

6. Situation 5 You start a part-time job and find that a lot of your colleagues wear Celtic Football shirts at work. There’s a lot of banter about football and a clear dislike of Rangers and their supporters You are a Protestant and feel uncomfortable in this environment What would you do?

7. Situation 6 A lecturer seems to think that one of your student group is gay and frequently makes snide remarks about gay people. As it happens, your friend who is straight has some close friends who are gay. This friend feels annoyed about the lecturer’s comments. Is this discrimination?

8. Situation 7 A primary school invites parents of prospective pupils to an open day. The parents of one child (who are a same sex couple) attend and the Principal expresses surprise when they tell him in conversation that they are partners, not sisters as he first assumed. The application for their child’s admission to the school is turned down and the school says it’s because they are over-subscribed. Is this discrimination?

9. Situation 8 A Polish woman applies to open a bank account. She is asked for a utility bill as evidence of a permanent address in Northern Ireland. As the woman has only recently come to live in Northern Ireland and is sharing a flat with a number of friends, she cannot provide a utility bill in her own name. The bank explains that they ask all would-be customers to provide such evidence of a permanent address. Is this discrimination?

10. Situation 9 A Portuguese woman applies for a job in a day care facility – she was a qualified nursery school teacher in Portugal. She attends an interview and is offered the job. She asks if she could work part-time as she has 2 small children and no family to help with childcare. The employer says it is a full-time post, withdraws the offer and gives the job to another candidate who is younger, and has no children. Is this discrimination?

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