The Workplace Relations Commission found that a Box Office Cashier’s dismissal on reaching 65 was discriminatory on age and gender grounds. It directed An Arts & Entertainment Centre to pay her €8,800 compensation, about nine months’ salary. The decision was dated 23 November 2017.
The cashier said other employees had been allowed to work beyond 65, including a male colleague who remained employed at 79. The centre relied on its normal retirement age of 65, workforce planning and the other employees’ differing circumstances. The adjudication officer found the retirement age was applied inconsistently and that the centre had not justified the different treatment. The officer also found the explanation for retaining the male colleague unpersuasive and that the cashier was treated less favourably than him.