Irish funeral home that refused to take Roma teen's body must pay compensation

zwiebel

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A funeral home in Ireland has been ordered to pay compensation of 6,384 Euros (about $8,100), after it refused to accept the body of 14-year-old Aaron Joyce, who was from a Traveller family.

The teen died in 2011 from a liver condition, two months after his mother had donated part of her liver in a desperate attempt to save him. Michael Ryan Funeral Directors in Ashbourne, County Meath, at first agreed to host Aaron's wake, but then refused when they discovered he was from a Traveller family. As a result, his funeral had to be held elsewhere (against the dying wishes of Aaron) and many of his school friends could not attend.

An Equality Tribunal found the undertaker had acted wrongly under the Equal Status Act, and made the maximum compensation order available for the bereaved parents.

The ruling was welcomed by Pavee Point, an organisation for Travellers and Roma, and Emily Logan, Chief Commissioner Designate of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
The family have said the case was not about the money but the principle and they will donate the compensation to the Make A Wish Foundation.

'Pavee Point co-director Martin Collins said that, in his 30 years of being involved in Traveller politics, he had never heard of anything as shocking and repulsive.

“It is a new low for Irish society that something like this could happen to a 14-year-old boy and his parents. It is despicable,” said Mr Collins.'

'Chief commissioner designate of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Emily Logan, welcomed the tribunal’s decision. “The family has suffered a great loss with the death of their son and this was compounded by the discrimination that they experienced at the time of his burial,” she said.'

http://www.independent.ie/irish-new...4-who-died-from-liver-condition-30677357.html

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/undertaker-refused-to-take-body-of-traveller-292052.html
 
Whatever happened to respect for the dead? This boy is no different from the very ones who refused him. I'm glad the family won.

GB this family.
 
Although I find the funeral homes' decision despicable, I believe that privately owned businesses should have to right to do business or not do business with whomever they choose. Same as the incidents here with the wedding cake and the wedding ceremony. If people are disgusted by the choices that a business makes then they should boycott that business, not sue or have government involvement. There are plenty of businesses out there who don't discriminate that would appreciate the fall-out revenue. JMO
 

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