The High Court has cleared the way for an Equality Tribunal complaint over a 100% loading on an income-continuance insurance premium to proceed.
Bernadette Treanor, an Equality Officer, applied in 2002 to continue income protection cover after taking up her post the previous year. Following a medical examination, Eagle Star Life Assurance Company of Ireland Limited accepted her into the scheme but doubled the normal premium.
Ms Treanor initially believed the loading might relate to a previous consultation with a heart specialist. She later learned from her GP that Eagle Star had referred to her as clinically obese and considered her at greater risk of absence from work.
She made discrimination complaints under the Equal Status Act 2000 and later added a victimisation complaint. Because she worked for the Equality Tribunal, an independent temporary Equality Officer was eventually appointed to deal with the case.
There was a lengthy administrative delay. Eagle Star argued that the complaint should have been dismissed under section 38 of the Act because Ms Treanor had not actively pursued it for several years. Mr Justice Hedigan rejected that argument. He held that section 38 was essentially a mechanism for removing abandoned or moribund complaints, not a requirement that complainants continually press the Tribunal for progress.
The judge found that Ms Treanor had complied with deadlines and requests made of her. The principal cause of delay was the Tribunal’s backlog and the difficulty in appointing an independent officer.
Eagle Star also argued that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction because a high body mass index did not amount to a disability under the legislation. The High Court declined to decide that substantive issue in advance.
Hedigan J held that determining whether the facts came within the statutory definition of disability was primarily for the Equality Tribunal. The High Court’s role on judicial review was supervisory, not to determine the merits prematurely.
All relief sought by Eagle Star was refused, meaning the discrimination complaint could proceed to adjudication.