Bank discriminated on grounds of gender

BANK OF Ireland has been ordered to pay a former female employee €30,000 and reform its internal processes, after the Equality Tribunal found the bank indirectly discriminated against the woman on gender grounds.

The tribunal also ruled that the bank broke the State's Code of Practice on Part-Time Working.

Publishing its judgment yesterday, the tribunal said a complaint had been received from Catherine Morgan, of the bank's north Dublin region, that she had applied for part-time work or job sharing with the bank in March 2000, having been a member of staff since 1990.

Ms Morgan told the tribunal she had needed altered working arrangements as she had been planning an overseas adoption.

But she was not offered part-time work or job sharing up to December 2002 when she went on adoptive leave. In January 2003 she received a letter from the bank's human resources department offering her a job-sharing position.

But she said she was told by the regional services manager the offer had been a mistake.

Towards the end of her adoptive leave, in August 2003, she contacted the regional services manager to ask if part-time work or job sharing would be available, but was told that nothing was available. She was advised that she could take a career break, which she did from September 2003 for one year.

On returning from her career break, Ms Morgan asked if part-time work or job sharing would be available, but was told that nothing was available. Ms Morgan gave evidence that she felt she had no alternative but to return to full-time work in September 2004.

She was subsequently put on the bank's branch relief staff in north Co Dublin and was then, she claimed, the only full-time person on the relief staff.

In November 2004 the regional services manager asked her about her second adoption and future plans, advising her that it would be September 2005 before her part-time work application would be considered, Ms Morgan told the tribunal. She went on sick leave suffering from stress, and was told part-time working would be available if she was to return to work shortly. However, she found she was not able to return to work and was on sick leave until her resignation on August 20th, 2007.

The bank rejected the allegations of discrimination on the grounds of gender and marital status and claimed Ms Morgan was not treated differently from anyone else.

The tribunal ruled the complaint was made on grounds of gender and marital status. But it said no evidence was put forward in relation to Ms Morgan's marital status or her access to employment and promotion or regrading.

The tribunal found the Code of Practice on Access to Part-Time Working required that such requests should be treated seriously, and the bank had been deliberating on Ms Morgan's original request for five years. As women were the primary applicants for such positions, the tribunal also found she was indirectly discriminated against on gender grounds.