The High Court has refused an attempt by County Louth Vocational Educational Committee to restrict an Equality Tribunal investigation into discrimination allegations made by retired teacher Pearse Brannigan.
Mr Brannigan worked at St. Laurence’s Community College in Drogheda from 1981 to 2003 and at Drogheda Institute of Further Education until his early retirement on health grounds in September 2007.
In August 2006, he lodged an Equality Tribunal complaint alleging discrimination on grounds of gender and sexual orientation. His form identified incidents in December 2005 and March 2006. These included an alleged attempted assault by a colleague and an incident in which a banana, partly peeled and enclosed in a condom, was allegedly placed in his staffroom mailbox.
Later submissions expanded his account to alleged discrimination dating back to 1997. County Louth VEC argued that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to investigate matters outside the incidents identified in the original form. It also challenged the Equality Officer’s decision to exclude most VEC witnesses from the hearing room while Mr Brannigan gave evidence.
Mr Justice Brian McGovern rejected both arguments on July 24, 2009.
He held that the standard EE1 complaint form was intended to give a broad outline of a claim, rather than operate like a rigid court pleading. Further details could therefore be added where the general nature of the complaint remained the same. Whether older allegations ultimately fell within the permissible period for a continuing-discrimination claim remained for the Equality Officer to decide.
The judge also found no unfairness in asking witnesses to remain outside until required. The VEC had representation capable of cross-examining Mr Brannigan, while its witnesses could later give their own accounts and provide instructions.
The court stressed that an Equality Tribunal hearing is not conducted with all the formality of a court case. As no final ruling had yet been made on the time span of the complaint, and the procedures used were not unfair, the VEC was not entitled to the declarations or injunctions it sought.