In 1993, the Labour Court rejected the appeals of Yolanda McEvoy, Joyce Walsh, Frances Place, Helen Mullally and Margaret Robinson, finding their dismissals by J.C. Distribution Limited were not discriminatory. The order was signed on 14 June 1993.
The women had been part-time sales staff. After a merger, the company replaced the part-time roles with two full-time sales representative jobs, and the women were dismissed as redundant. The Employment Equality Agency, which represented them, argued that they had strong work records and that men who replaced them were less suitable. It also cited an interviewer’s references to “lads”.
The company said it reorganised the sales area for economic reasons and that interviews were fair. The Labour Court accepted the restructuring was needed to stem financial losses and found the women had not been discriminated against in their dismissal.