The complainant was employed as a manager at the Castlerea branch of a Cooperative Society from 1974 until her employment terminated on the 6th July 2007.
The complainant argued discrimination on a number of grounds. These complaints were upheld on the gender ground and harassment, The Equality Officer found that the that the discrimination on the grounds of gender was compounded by discrimination on the grounds of age, notwithstanding that comparable branch managers were both older and younger than the complainant. The EO found it "notable that the complainant, who was in her fifties at the time of the termination, believed that the respondent wanted to replace older workers with younger workers and that this happened in her case. It is also significant that Ms A the manager of Kilbarron Co-operative was also replaced by a younger male manager."
In relation to alleged bullying and harassment, the EO said, "I found the following corroborated the complainant's evidence in relation to her treatment: Ms. A gave evidence that she witnessed the complainant being treated in a very dismissive way by GM at a meeting of managers and other branch managers expressed shock at the way she was treated; in a letter of 26th September 2005 the complainant's union representative expressed concern about "total victimisation on your part to our member"; the complainants SS gave evidence that he witnessed GM using choice language towards the complainant at a meeting. I have also taken into consideration a letter from the complainant's GP which stated that the complainant was having problems at work and he diagnosed she was suffering from high blood pressure but she refused to take time off work even though she told him that she was stressed at work."
The complainant had received a final warning in relation to the alleged underperformance of her branch. However, there appeared to be inconsistencies in the evidence e.g. a letter referring to diesel and steel, whereas the complaint's branch sold n either diesel nor steel. The lack of consistency and failure to provide evidence was held against the respondent:
"I note that the respondent did not produce any evidence to contradict the complainant's assertions. I also note that despite a request by the Tribunal for sales figures from other similar branches the respondent did not provide the Tribunal with this information. It is significant that the respondent stated in response to a question that there were still performance problems with the Castlerea Branch since the complainant's departure and that the proposed development plan has not been implemented so far. Consequently I am satisfied that the complainant has raised an inference of discrimination in relation to her treatment. The respondent has not convinced me that any deficiencies in the performance of the Castlerea branch were solely attributable to the management of the branch by the complainant. Taking into account the totality of the evidence presented, I am also not satisfied that the final written warning was justified in the circumstances."
The Equality Officer awarded some 15 months' remuneration (a total of €50k).
http://www.equalitytribunal.ie/Database-of-Decisions/2011/Employment-Equality-Decisions/DEC-E2011-147-Full-Case-Report.html
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