A CARE assistant who couldn’t “deal with nappies” has lost a discrimination case against his former employer.

The disability organisation worker informed his employer of the phobia soon after starting in 2006.

He reported that he had even tried to take his own life because he “couldn’t deal with the prospect of having to deal with nappies”.

He was eventually dismissed on grounds of incapacity last year, and complained to the Workplace Relations Commission that he had been discriminated against and victimised due to his ‘disability’.

The WRC heard the organisation, providing services to people with severe and profound disabilities, maintained “intimate care” — and changing nappies was among the core duties of care assistants.

The complainant continued in the role for eight years. A meeting was organised in February 2014 to discuss options for him.

None of these addressed his phobia, as all care assistant posts required intimate care.

He commenced sick leave in May 2014, continuing until his eventual dismissal in June 2017 except for a number of trials in other areas.

In his decision, WRC Adjudication Officer James Kelly said that the “unavoidable conclusion” of the complainant’s own submission was that he was unable to perform the core duties of the job for which he was employed.

He added that he had researched phobias and read about the extreme lengths to which sufferers will go in order to avoid exposure to their particular fears.

Dismissing the case, Mr Kelly said he was “at a complete loss” to understand how the complainant decided to pursue a job as a care assistant for disabled people when he knew he had a phobia of soiled nappies.