The Court of Appeal has dismissed two appeals by Deirdre Morgan against the High Court’s refusal to overturn Labour Court decisions on her discrimination and pension complaints against Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB).
In a judgment delivered on 14 January 2025, Ms Justice Faherty, with whom Ms Justice Whelan and Mr Justice Binchy agreed, upheld the High Court’s dismissal of Morgan’s statutory appeals on points of law. The appeals concerned Labour Court determinations issued on 9 February 2021 under the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Pensions Act 1990.
Morgan had complained to the Workplace Relations Commission in April 2019 that she had experienced discrimination and victimisation, including in relation to her pension. The Labour Court considered whether she had identified discrimination within the relevant six-month period for the employment equality complaint. It found she had not established a prima facie case and dismissed that appeal. On the pension complaint, it found that Morgan had received the ill-health retirement pension she applied for and had not shown a breach of the Pensions Act. It dismissed that appeal as misconceived.
Morgan argued in the High Court that the Labour Court’s written decisions did not match the preliminary nature of its remote hearing and that she had not been given a fair opportunity to make submissions. The High Court found no error of law and dismissed both appeals. Morgan then appealed those decisions to the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal found that the Labour Court had told the parties it would first consider whether discrimination had been shown within the relevant period. The hearing transcript recorded Morgan’s submissions and the Board’s response. The court said the Labour Court’s decision on the employment equality complaint reflected the process it had outlined. It also found that the pension determination addressed the substance of the complaint, and that the High Court was entitled to uphold it.
The Court rejected Morgan’s arguments that the Labour Court had improperly varied the adjudication officer’s decision, that the High Court proceedings had prejudiced her appeals, and that the courts should have considered wider allegations she raised. It said the High Court was deciding the pleaded points of law, not the wider complaints.
The Court of Appeal’s order was to dismiss both appeals. It did not remit the complaints to the Labour Court or make a new determination of the underlying claims.