WRC rejects Sinead Cotter’s pay equality complaint

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Workplace Relations Commission rejected Sinead Cotter’s complaint that she had suffered pay discrimination on grounds of gender and family status. Cotter, a contracts and procurement specialist at Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery Limited, had sought €107,000.

Cotter had worked at the refinery since April 2000 and remained employed at the time of the hearing. She claimed she was paid less and graded lower than male colleague Brendan Collins despite holding the same Contract Specialist title and performing substantially similar duties. She said she had sought an upgrade from around 2010 and that her regrading requests were repeatedly deferred.

Collins said their work scopes and everyday tasks were very similar and that Cotter could perform all his duties if required. The company argued that there was a clear distinction between their roles and that any difference in pay was unrelated to her gender or family status.

Adjudicator Patsy Doyle found that Collins participated in larger-scale projects and that there was a difference in their work. She said his job was ranked a grade above Cotter’s on skill and market forces, with quantity surveying a central component. A later case summary said the pay difference was objectively justified and that no gender or family status discrimination was found.