Transgender taxi driver loses discrimination case after being fired over inappropriate comments

Seán McCárthaigh

A transgender taxi driver who was fired after making inappropriate comments to staff and relatives of children at a special needs school has lost a case in which he claimed he was discriminated against on the grounds of his gender.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that a transport company, which terminated the driver’s contract to transport children and their special needs assistants to the school following complaints against him, had not breached the Employment Equality Act 1998.

The identities of the parties were not published due to the sensitive nature of the case as well as that it related to a school with special needs pupils.

The WRC heard that the taxi driver was born male and secured the taxi contract in 2023 when he was transitioning from male to female, but had stopped transitioning in August 2024.

The WRC heard his contract was suspended the following month before his contract was unilaterally terminated in October 2024 after the transport company received several complaints about his conduct and use of inappropriate language.

At a meeting on October 15th, 2024, the taxi driver said he was informed that the conversations that were the subject of complaints generally related to his transgenderism and the reasons behind his transition, namely a prior sexual assault.

He told the WRC that they were consensual conversations between adults when there were no children present and that the SNA making the complaints against him had actively encouraged such talk when he felt he was in a “safe space.”

He said the SNA had been questioning after he had stopped transitioning and had come to work with a beard.

The taxi driver said the contract was his only source of income and he had not found any work since which had caused him ongoing stress and anxiety.

He denied doing anything wrong and felt he was robbed of a job he loved.

Counsel for the transport company, Niamh McGowan, said it had acted reasonably and in the best interest of its service users in terminating the taxi driver’s contract for significant breaches of a code of conduct and safety protocols.

McGowan said the company had no issue with the taxi driver’s transgenderism and he was treated exactly the same way as any other contractor.

The WRC heard that the company had been notified of a complaint from a SNA by the school’s principal which related to multiple issues.

They included a disclosure of sexual abuse, a description of a couple being intimate in a doorway and walking in on a partner being intimate with a man.

The taxi driver was also accused of asking the SNA if she was “playing the field” and referring to “hump day” in connection with “getting a ride.”

The WRC heard that it was also claimed that he had commented about experience with intimate waxing and making inappropriate contact with relatives of some children.

The company said the school principal had informed it via e-mail on September 27th, 2024 that the taxi driver had engaged inappropriately with multiple parties despite having been suspended.

The e-mail also documented allegations of inappropriate conversations, rude and sarcastic behaviour, driving aggressively and smoking near and child and their parent.

McGowan said the taxi driver made multiple admissions at a meeting on October 15th, 2024 including his failure to report an incident of a child misbehaving and assaulting a SNA and leaving his vehicle to go to the school yard while children were in class.

She said he had engaged with the children which caused them stress and anxiety as they associated his presence with time for going home.

WRC adjudication officer, Gaye Cunningham, said the fact that the taxi driver had divulged information which he would not have done if he did not believe he was in a “safe space” was an unfortunate and regrettable element of the case from his point of view.

However, Cunningham said the conversation he had engaged in which related to sexual abuse, sexual intimacy between strangers, acts of infidelity and intimate personal care issues were inappropriate conversations within the workplace irrespective of one’s gender.

She ruled that the transport company in addressing such inappropriate conversation and breaches of child safeguarding had acted reasonably in terminating his contract.

A separate claim of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation was withdrawn during the hearing before the WRC.