A former prominent Sinn Féin member today received a £15,000 settlement from the party after claiming she was discriminated against for jobs at its Westminster office.
Anne ‘Dodie’ McGuinness alleged discrimination on grounds of age and gender after the 58-year-old lost out to younger males.
Ms McGuinness, who is a former sister-in-law of Martin McGuinness, said she was not given an opportunity to apply for two posts she felt qualified for in April last year.
Today the Equality Commission in Britain confirmed Sinn Féin had agreed to pay Ms McGuinness £15,000 without admission of liability, while the party said it regretted any perception that she was put at a disadvantage.
Ms McGuinness was made redundant from a position based in Sinn Féin’s Westminster office in November 2007.
Her involvement in politics stretches back to the civil rights movement of the late 1960s and she joined Sinn Féin in 1972. She sat on the party’s national executive and served as a councillor on Derry City Council in the 1980s.
Ms McGuinness said that she had been disappointed to feel that she was being treated unfairly after many years working for Sinn Féin.
“I am happy that this matter has now been resolved and particularly pleased that, as a result of this case, the party will now work with the Equality Commission to ensure that its policies and procedures deliver the highest standards of equality of opportunity,” she said.
She alleged that two posts for which she felt she was appropriately skilled and experienced had subsequently been filled without her being given an opportunity to apply for them.
The posts were filled by males, both younger than her.
In reaching the settlement, the party has undertaken to meet with the Equality Commission to review its equal opportunities and recruitment and selection policies, practices and procedures to ensure that they are effective and conform with the law.
It has also affirmed its commitment to the principle of equality of opportunity in employment and to ensuring that it complies in all respects with national and European Union equality law, particularly the Sex Discrimination (NI) Order 1976 and the related Code of Practice and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (NI) 2006.