Labour Court increases award for former ALSAA employee in age discrimination case

Gordon Deegan

The Aer Lingus Social & Athletic Association (ALSAA) is facing a €50,000 bill after forcing two long serving reception staff to retire at the ages of 65 and 67.

This follows the backfiring of a move by ALSAA in appealing one of the Workplace Relations Commission's (WRC) age discrimination awards to the Labour Court.

ALSAA operates the well-known sports centre located near Dublin Airport and last year at the WRC, ALSAA was ordered to pay supervisor Mary Gavin €18,400 for forcing her to retire at the 67.

Ms Gavin had worked for ALSAA for 33 years before her discriminatory dismissal in March 2021.

ALSAA appealed the ruling to the Labour Court, which upheld the WRC's findings and has now increased Ms Gavin's award by 63 per cent to €30,000.

This follows the court's decision earlier this year to award €20,000 to Ms Gavin's former colleague, Doreen Nolan, in a separate age discrimination case. Both workers were represented by Siptu.

In the Nolan case, ALSAA told the Labour Court that it was appealing the WRC award "given the precarious financial circumstances of the company".

In the three-person Labour Court ruling concerning Ms Gavin's case, the court's deputy chairman Tom Geraghty found Ms Gavin was dismissed unfairly due to her age.

Termination

Mr Geraghty stated Ms Gavin described to the court her bewilderment at being told that her employment was ceasing, in circumstances where she had every reason to believe that she would be retained, given that colleagues had been retained consistently over many years after reaching the age of 65.

Mr Geraghty added that Ms Gavin described her feelings of isolation and depression as a consequence of this unexpected turn of events and told how she had struggled to adapt to her change in circumstances.

Mr Geraghty stated the court "was very struck by this description of the effects on her".

ALSAA said it was a good employer and facilitated four reception staff who made requests to be kept on after their mandatory retirement age.

The group stated Ms Gavin’s request for a third contract extension occurred during the Covid-19 lockdown, a time which had serious implications for its finances, and she could not be accommodated.

Ms Gavin contended that ALSAA’s chief executive continues to work for the company at the age of 74. However, ALSAA clarified to the court that the chief executive is not a direct employee of the assocaition.

Ms Gavin said no rationale was provided to show that her compulsory retirement was objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim that was appropriate and necessary to achieve.

ALSAA told the Labour Court it had legitimate cause for a retirement age and its actions were appropriate and necessary.

ALSAA stated Ms Gavin was a supervisor at the sports pavilion reception desk "and if she was to continue working indefinitely, she would block an opportunity for Generation X".

ALSAA added that despite it being demotivating for others, it granted two additional years in employment to Ms Gavin, in the hope that this would help to prepare her for the lifestyle change.

ALSAA said that the age demographic of the staff at the particular desk meant the majority of those concerned reached the mandatory retirement age within an 18-month period, but this operational difficulty presented an opportunity to move to a more balanced age structure.