The Supreme Court has dismissed appeals by both sides over a High Court order awarding 14 female clerical officers two-thirds of their costs in an equal pay case involving An Garda Síochána. The underlying claims have not been finally determined and remain for rehearing by the Labour Court.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice John MacMenamin on 10 December 2018, concerned costs only. The State appellants challenged the two-thirds award, while the claimants cross-appealed for their full costs. Neither side appealed the High Court orders setting aside the Labour Court’s determination and sending the matter back for rehearing.
The claimants, employed by the Department of Justice and assigned to clerical work with An Garda Síochána, alleged indirect gender discrimination because gardaí doing clerical work received higher pay. Their claims began in the Labour Court after an Equality Officer had upheld seven claims and dismissed seven others. In 2007, the Labour Court found the pay difference objectively justified and rejected the claims.
On appeal, the High Court referred questions of European law to the Court of Justice of the European Union. In 2013, that court gave guidance on assessing comparable work, representative comparators and possible objective justifications, including industrial relations considerations. It did not decide that the claimants’ selected comparators were valid.
In January 2014, the High Court allowed the claimants’ appeal on a point of law, set aside the Labour Court determination and remitted the case for rehearing under the procedure described in its judgment. It also ordered the respondents to pay two-thirds of the claimants’ otherwise applicable High Court and European court costs. The State did not challenge the first two orders.
The Supreme Court said the claimants had obtained substantive procedural relief: without their appeal, the Labour Court’s rejection would have stood, while the case now had to be reconsidered using the correct procedure. It rejected the State’s contention that the Labour Court was bound to reject the claims after reconsidering the comparators, describing that as speculation about a future decision.
The Court found no substantial departure from the principles governing the High Court’s discretion on costs and dismissed the State appeal. It also dismissed the claimants’ cross-appeal, finding no basis to disturb the two-thirds award. The Supreme Court’s decision resolved the costs appeals; it did not decide the underlying equal pay claims.