Mr. Niall Crowley:

The onus on the employer is not to discover the ground. The onus on employers is about treatment and less favourable treatment. That is the argument they will make. If a case comes against me as an employer I will not be discussing the grounds, I will be discussing the basis for my decision, which has nothing to do with any grounds or any relevant characteristics. That is the way it is set up because of the fact these cases are difficult to approve and difficult to defend. It is not just with regard to this ground. It is set up in a way whereby I, as the person who feels discriminated against, must put forward a prima facie case. I must select the ground on which I will fight the case and the comparator of which I will make use. I must also set out a prima facie case of less favourable treatment. The employer will not come back and state I was less favourably treated but that he or she did not know the ground, or that I was less favourably treated on another ground. He or she will come back and state it is nonsense and that the decision was made because of relevant characteristics. That is the way it works.