Mr. P. and his daughter visited a dentist in the fall of 2011. Both suffered from acute toothaches and their previous dentist had recently retired.

Their dealings went smoothly over the phone: making the appointment was no problem. But when Mr. P. and his daughter arrived at the office, things changed.

Dental discrimination

As soon as the dentist saw that the two were Roma, she refused to register them and even denied making the appointment over the telephone.

"She saw Roma in the waiting room and snapped at us immediately, 'What are you doing here?' I was really embarrassed, because this was, in my opinion, very inappropriate behavior," said Mr. P.

The dentist tried to justify her action first by saying that she was fully booked, then by saying she treats children only, and, finally, that she was about to retire.

Contrary to all of her claims, however, her website promised to accept new patients. Also noteworthy is the fact that the daughter of Mr. P. was a child at the time of the incident.

"So I told her, 'You're a doctor or not?' She said she was a doctor, but that she does not treat adults, just children. And I said, 'Excuse me, where are the kids? I see no one but grown-up people here.' And there really wasn't a single child in the waiting room!" explained Mr. P.

Situational testing

Mr. P. sought help from the organization IQ Roma Service. They agreed to do some situational testing, which is a method to detect and prove discrimination.

Mrs. P. set up an appointment by telephone. She attended the appointment on schedule. However, the situation repeated. When she arrived at the office, the dentist said that she has full and cannot register any new patients.

Soon after that a non-Roma employee of IQRS attempted to register at the dentist's office. This time everything went smoothly, even though the IQRS employee came in for an on-the-spot registration. This confirmed that the dentist practiced unequal treatment.

Court-ordered apology

Complaints and motions directed at health care supervising authorities followed, but they swept the case under the carpet, again. The dentist has repeatedly denied committing any unethical conduct.

When the case finally went to the court, the dentist, considering the strength of the evidence against her, confessed that she really had committed discrimination.

The defendant was ordered to pay a total fine of 30,000 CZK for personal damages to the pair. She also sent a written apology, in which she recognized that "her conduct was illegal and wrong, because Roma are a people, too, and they have a right to be a patient like everybody else."