The High Court has ruled that a Sikh man’s discrimination complaint over the Garda Reserve uniform policy could not be pursued through the Employment Equality Acts because reserve membership is voluntary rather than employment.
Ravinder Singh Oberoi had applied to join the Garda Reserve and completed the first three stages of training. As a practising Sikh, he does not shave his beard and wears a turban as part of his faith. At the fourth stage he was informed that he had to wear the full Garda uniform, including the Garda hat, and would not be permitted to wear his turban.
Oberoi claimed discrimination on religious and ethnic grounds. The Equality Tribunal first considered whether it had jurisdiction. It found that Garda Reserve members were not employees, but held that the training process amounted to vocational training covered by section 12 of the Employment Equality Acts.
Both sides appealed those preliminary findings to the High Court.
Mr Justice Feeney upheld the finding that reserve members are not employees. The Garda Síochána Act expressly describes them as volunteers who do not perform their functions under contracts of employment. The judge also found that the absence of mutual obligations to provide and perform work was inconsistent with an employment relationship.
The Garda Commissioner succeeded on the separate vocational-training issue. The court held that training for the Garda Reserve is directed towards becoming a reserve member, not exclusively towards paid employment as a full member of An Garda Síochána. Although reserve service may later assist an application to join the force, that was described as a by-product rather than the purpose of the training.
The ruling therefore concerned the Equality Tribunal’s jurisdiction, not whether the turban requirement itself amounted to religious or ethnic discrimination.
The Commissioner’s appeal was allowed and Oberoi’s cross-appeal was refused.