Nurse passed over for position gets €70,000

A NURSE who went on stress leave after being passed over in favour of a male candidate at a job interview has been awarded €70,000.

The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul has been ordered to pay Martha McGinn €60,000 in back pay and a further €10,000 for the effects of discrimination.

Ms McGinn took her case to the Equality Authority when a less qualified male candidate was appointed by the Daughters of Charity to the position of nursing practice development co-ordinator.

The Equality Tribunal found the selection process had failed to give Ms McGinn any recognition for meeting the essential requirement of five years post-registration experience in mental handicap. The successful candidate did not meet this requirement.

The post was advertised internally at Ms McGinn’s place of work, St Joseph’s Hospital, Clonsilla and St Vincent’s Hospital, Navan Road. Ms Ginn said the successful candidate was informed of the position by a Ms Downey Ennis, who subsequently formed part of the interview panel. She claimed this was a form of headhunting and discriminated against other candidates.

The Daughters of Charity argued that the successful candidate was selected on the basis of his suitability.

However, the tribunal found in Ms McGinn’s favour and ordered the Daughters of Charity to put in place fair and transparent selection procedures for future competitions.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO), which represented Ms McGinn at the hearing, said they were delighted.

Walter Freyne, director of services for the Daughters of Charity, said he could not comment as the case was under appeal.