BoI subsidiary fined €30k for gender bias

A subsidiary of Bank of Ireland has been ordered to pay €30,000 compensation to a senior manager who was discriminated against on grounds of gender.

The Equality Tribunal issued the ruling against Bank of Ireland Private Banking over the manner in which it handled the female employee’s return to work in Sept 2008 following a period on maternity leave.

It found that the bank had discriminated against private banking manager Gráinne Campbell because she was not allowed to return to her former role and responsibilities.

Bank of Ireland had argued that Ms Campbell was assigned different rather than less responsibility as the banking sector had fundamentally changed after the collapse of US banking firm Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Although Ms Campbell remained on the same pay grade, the tribunal found that her old position still existed but was being filled by another employee.

It ruled that Ms Campbell was afforded less favourable treatment due to the fact she was given a role on her return which no longer identified her as a manager with primary responsibility for dealing with specific clients or as a point of contact for these clients.

The tribunal said the new role had “diluted” Ms Campbell’s level of responsibility.

However, the complainant failed in her claim that she had been discriminated on the grounds of disability on the basis that the bank had failed to proceed with a grievance procedure while she was out sick with work-related stress.

Meanwhile, a Cork outlet of fast-food chain Eddie Rocket’s was ordered to pay a total of €15,000 compensation to two lesbian members of staff who quit work after two weeks in the job.

The Equality Tribunal ruled that waitress Laura Mezei from Hungary and kitchen porter Melanda Magyar from Slovakia were subjected to harassment and sexual harassment by the restaurant on gender and sexual orientation grounds.

The couple had begun work at Eddie Rocket’s in late May 2008 but both left in the first week of June after experiencing a series of obscene comments by colleagues.

The tribunal ruled the restaurant had not taken reasonable steps to prevent employees from sexually harassing other members of staff who were either women or homosexuals.

It rejected the women’s case that they were also discriminated against on grounds of gender, marital status, sexual orientation, and race in relation to access to employment, promotion, training, and work conditions.

The tribunal awarded each woman €7,500.