A Catholic train driver is seeking stg£25,000 compensation for alleged religious harassment and victimisation, a Northern Ireland employment tribunal heard today.
Mr Paul Hoy (33) from Lurgan, Co Armagh, alleges he was physically threatened, his car damaged and his kit bag tampered with while he worked at Portadown Railway Station.
His lawyer Ms Suzanne Bradley, in her closing submission to the tribunal, accused management at Translink and Northern Ireland Railways of a complete failure to recognise the seriousness of his complaints.
Ms Bradley said managers were aware that he had brought an earlier case against the company claiming religious discrimination.
But Mr Pat Ferrity representing Translink argued that only the most serious cases merited payments of up to stg£25,000. He said there were no medical grounds for treating Mr Hoy's case in the top category.
"The evidence from Mr Hoy has been modest in the extreme," he said.
During the four day case, Mr Hoy claimed that a Protestant colleague Mr Gary Mercer threatened to have him kneecapped - a claim which Mr Mercer vigorously denied.
He claimed he was ostracised by other drivers after Mr Mercer failed to get the post of traction inspector when Mr Hoy and other applicants had objected to his appointment in January 2001.
Mr Hoy said that in the months that followed his car was vandalised, tyres were deflated and eight sets of dust caps stolen.
Mr Ferrity in his closing submission, said that while there was clearly tension between Mr Hoy and Mr Mercer, there was insufficient evidence to suggest it was motivated by religion.
He added that Mr Hoy had provided no evidence that the vandalism to his car had been carried out by Northern Ireland Railways staff.
Earlier, a senior Translink manager Mr Arthur Hamilton hit back at claims that he and other managers failed to deal adequately with the case.
He said that at a meeting on July 17th, 2001 he had advised that a formal investigation should be launched into Mr Hoy's complaints against Mr Mercer. However, Mr Hoy had requested the inquiry should remain informal.
The tribunal was adjourned for the panel to consider its decision.