THE chairman of the North's Fair Employment Commission, Mr Bob Cooper, has expressed grave concern after a Catholic man from west Belfast was awarded almost £40,000 compensation for religious discrimination by Ford motor company.
It is the highest award made by the Fair Employment Tribunal.
"For a major high profile international employer to find itself in this position with regard to an issue as sensitive as fair employment in Northern Ireland is a cause of great concern and should be to the company," Mr Cooper said.
The tribunal found the company guilty of religious and political discrimination against Mr Tom Irvine, a personnel officer at its Finaghy plant near Belfast. An internal memo described him as an "active Catholic".
Mr Irvine was a company employee for 18 years when he applied for the post of training officer in 1992. Following interviews, he was rated the most suitable candidate by the panel but was not appointed. Three other posts at the same grade were filled by Protestants.
It was later found his appointment had been blocked by the director of education, training and development, Ford Europe.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said the case showed that existing fair employment apparatus and legislation was impotent.
Mr Oliver Kearney of the anti-discrimination group, Equality, said Ford should immediately implement the MacBride Principles and that strong disciplinary action should be taken against some company personnel.