Cathy Maguire BL writes:

Christian Brothers High School Clonmel v Stokes [2015] IESC 13

Stokes, a judgment of the Supreme Court under the Equal Status Acts, is required reading for every employment practitioner. It lays down clear criteria for the determination of claims of indirect discrimination equally applicable to claims under the Employment Equality Act 1998 as amended and the Pensions Act 1990 as amended.[1]

The case concerned the claim by a minor, John Stokes, through his mother, that he had suffered indirect discrimination on the grounds of his membership of the travelling community when he failed to obtain a place in the Christian Brothers High School Clonmel. The school operated a rule which gave preference to children whose