Tribunal finds school should have allowed assistance dog in class
A 17-year-old Meath teenager with cerebral palsy whose primary school refused to allow him bring his assistance dog to school has been awarded €5,500 by an Equality Tribunal.
The Tribunal ruled that Luke Kelly Melia who was 13 at the time was discriminated against by Knocktemple National School, Virginia on disability grounds.
The adjudicator, Orlaith Mannion, said the school took a “just say no” attitude to allowing the specially trained stability dog accompany Luke to school.
The incident occurred five years ago, but the case wasn't heard until last year and the ruling was published last Friday.
In November 2011 Luke was given the stability dog – Aidan – by the Irish Dogs for the Disabled charity. He had been moved up the list due to his deteriorating condition as a result of a growth spurt.
At the end of the term, however, the school’s principal sent a letter to the family saying that permission to have the dog in the school would have to be sought in writing to the board of management.
The letter also stated that Luke would have to stop bringing Aidan to school until the board decided on the matter.
Luke’s parents subsequently took him out of the school and home schooled him until the end of the school year.
Ms Mannion ordered the school to redraft its policy regarding assistance dogs and the school must report to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) on the progress on this within a year.
If it did not do so, the IHREC may, with the consent of the complainant, apply to the District Court for an enforcement order.
In its response to the case the school said “Dogs potentially pose a threat to members of the school community. Some staff and children may have a fear of dogs, staff and/or children may have allergies triggered by dogs.”
The school said other parents expressed concern regarding the assistance dog. They deny that a parent survey they took on the issue had a negative bias.
Read the full story in this week’s edition of the Meath Chronicle.
The full decision is available on :
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2016/July/DEC-S2016-048.html