Labour Court upholds decision in Bernard Lester’s age discrimination appeal

The Labour Court upheld the decision against Bernard Lester in his age discrimination appeal concerning a public sector recruitment interview. The determination was dated 21 June 2023. Lester had applied unsuccessfully for a Senior Transportation Officer role with Dublin City Council and alleged direct age discrimination during his interview. He cited a higher pass mark, statistics on candidates’ success by age group and a question he said was asked at the interview. The Public Appointments Service said the pass mark applied equally to all candidates and disputed his account of the question. The Court found that Lester had not established an initial case of age discrimination. It said the age group he belonged to performed statistically as well as or as poorly as the younger 30 to 40 age group. His appeal did not succeed, and the adjudication officer’s decision was upheld.