Labour Court overturns Rights Commissioner's recommendation and awards €3,000 on union appeal

The Labour Court overturned the Rights Commissioner's recommendation and awarded €3,000 in compensation to a worker after upholding a union appeal over a promotion competition at Aer Lingus. The decision was signed on 4 February 2004. The worker, employed by Aer Lingus since 1969, had applied unsuccessfully for a Cargo Department post. The union said inconsistent scoring denied him a promotion opportunity; Aer Lingus said the process was fair and followed staff regulations. The Court found ambiguity in the scoring system, considered the equal weight given to absence records and interview performance unbalanced, and said the worker should have been told if his attendance record needed improvement. It added that more effort could have been made to assist him with future applications.