Ryanair loses case on age bias in advertisement

Ryanair was today fined for breaching equality law when advertising a job for a "young and dynamic professional".

The £8,000 judgment is the first under the new Employment Equality Act (1998) and found the airline had discriminated on age grounds in the job advertisement on March 8th 2000.

Equality Authority chief executive Mr Niall Crowley described it as an important judgment that focused on the almost casual and accepted discrimination experienced by older people in the work place.

In response Ryanair stated "young" was a state of mind and not an actual age.

As well as paying compensation, Ryanair has been asked to review its equal opportunity policies.