Fighting discrimination faced by the Traveller community

Did a hospitality venue discriminate on the grounds of race and harass and victimise in relation to race when they refused a booking for a christening because the family are Travellers?

P had enquired about holding his young daughter’s (R’s) Christening party in a function room at Park Conservative Club in Cardiff in March 2022. However, in a telephone call with a member of staff, P was told the club’s Board had recently voted to stop hosting Irish Travellers’ events.

P was shocked by the response and phoned the staff member back, recording the subsequent conversation. During the second call P was informed that Irish Travellers were banned from holding parties at the venue due to problems at previous events. A number of offensive comments about the behaviour of Irish Travellers were made. After P protested that it was unfair to ban a whole ethnicity because of the actions of others, the staff member suggested setting up a meeting for P to meet the club secretary to discuss the matter. P agreed to this but heard nothing further from the club.

P and R, who wish to remain anonymous, took legal action against the club on the grounds that it had racially discriminated against them both because they were Irish Travellers. The claim also included a claim of harassment of P as a result of the staff member’s offensive comments about Travellers while he was attempting to make the booking.

We supported this case through our fund for race discrimination cases, part of our Legal Support Scheme.

Many people in Britain have experienced prejudice and discrimination because of their race. 

Through our fund, we provide vital funding and legal assistance to help people seek justice and hold perpetrators to account.

Every employer, service provider or educational establishment must understand their responsibility to stamp out prejudice and discrimination, and what the consequences are if they don’t follow the law.

We assisted by funding solicitor costs, counsel fees and courts fees.

The claim was settled with compensation paid to P and R.

The settlement was reached with no admission of liability on the part of the club. As part of the settlement, three members of staff, a club official and a member of the club board have received cultural awareness training regarding the Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities.

No one should be discriminated against because of who they are, and members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities can often face harassment and discrimination due to negative stereotypes and deeply ingrained prejudices.

We supported this case through our landmark fund for race discrimination cases, which was launched to tackle race discrimination and help victims seeks justice. As Britain’s equality regulator we are committed to taking action and using our legal powers to ensure no-one experiences discrimination.

We hope those who have received training as part of this settlement are able to learn from this incident and ensure people from all communities are treated equally and with the respect they deserve in future.