Mother rejected by fire brigade wins case

A MOTHER of five who was turned down for a job as a firefighter because she was not tall enough might reapply to the service after winning an equal opportunities case.

Ms Gillian Maxwell (40) settled her discrimination case against the Northern Ireland Fire Authority for £5,000 yesterday.

The mother of five from Whitehead in Co Antrim was rejected by the authority when she applied for a part time job because she was three inches short of the 5ft 6in (1.68m) minimum height requirement.

Ms Maxwell, who first applied in September 1994, has been awarded £5,000 in compensation "for injury to her feelings". The fire authority will now drop its minimum height requirement after accepting that it had discriminated indirectly against her.

"I don't really know if I will apply again," Ms Maxwell said yesterday. "I may do. Two years ago I had accepted the fact that I was not going to get a job, but for my own satisfaction I would like to see how far I would get. Now it would be more to prove people wrong."

The Equal Opportunities Commission, which brought the case, welcomed the settlement and the authority's decision to drop its height requirement. The commission's legal officer, Ms Petra Sheils, said, "It's important not to stop people before they even get the chance to prove themselves."

But potential firefighters have to have a high level of fitness and aptitude for the job, according to the deputy chief fire officer, Mr Ken Harper.

"In order that fire authorities' can be confident that this is achieved, it will be necessary to maintain a level of testing which will measure applicants' ability to engage in what is a physically demanding and often dangerous profession."

Ms Ann Conley, the authority's director of human resources, stressed however its willingness to employ female firefighters.

. The height requirement for fire fighters in Dublin Fire Brigade was removed this month because it was discriminatory against women, according to Dublin Corporation's equality officer, Mr Vincent Moore. The stipulation that applicants be 5ft 6in was removed following a Labour Court ruling in a case involving CIE, he said.