Courts / Ireland / Report

Transgender discrimination claim fails following evidence of inappropriate talk on school bus

Summary

A school bus driver who was terminated after complaints about inappropriate talk at work and alleged breaches of child safeguarding procedures has failed in a claim for anti-trans discrimination. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) upheld the decision of a large bus and coach company to end its contract with the driver, dismissing a complaint of discrimination in breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998 on gender grounds. The tribunal heard that the driver, who was born male and had begun transitioning to a female identity before taking up the job, ceased gender-affirming treatments and started de-transitioning in the summer of 2024. He preferred to be addressed with male pronouns. The driver claimed that a special needs assistant questioned him about personal details, and he suspected the conversations were recorded. He was later informed of complaints about inappropriate language but was not given details until after he requested them. The company's legal submissions stated that the complaints involved explicit details of sexual abuse, sexual intimacy, and other inappropriate topics.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Transgender discrimination claim fails following evidence of inappropriate talk on school bus. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• 2026-02-09 Publication

Why: Ms Cunningham wrote that she had decided to anonymise her decision because "certain sensitive details were disclosed during the hearings" and because the matter involved a school with special needs pupils. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial

Read the original CNI report