The Anti Irish Government exposed once again…
‘Enterprise Ireland said we didn’t have enough diversity,’ start-up founders claim as they take discrimination case over funding
The founders of a start-up claim they were discriminated against because an Enterprise Ireland representative allegedly told them they “didn’t have enough diversity” when they sought State backing for their venture.
At a hearing yesterday, a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator said the conduct of one of the start-up founders had been “nothing short of disgraceful” the last time he was before the tribunal – a remark branded “defamatory” by the man.
Mark Keenan, Michael O’Reilly and Robert Yorke, the owners of sharing economy platform LendRB Ltd, have brought discrimination complaints against Enterprise Ireland under both the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000.
The diversity remark is alleged to have been made by a member of an Enterprise Ireland panel who interviewed the three complainants in relation to their application for funding under the Competitive Start Fund on an unspecified date.
“The comment was directed at us saying that we didn’t have enough diversity. We’re a start-up, the business is owned by the three of us individually… [we] make up the shares in the business,” he said.