The Workplace Relations Commission found that the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association discriminated against Susan Devereux by compulsorily retiring her at 60 and ordered her reinstatement. In a decision dated 17 November 2017, it rejected her separate victimisation complaint.
Devereux had worked as a civilian office administrator for the Association since 1992. The WRC found that Defence Forces retirement rules did not govern civilian staff and that the Association had no policy setting their retirement age. It rejected the Association’s claim that a uniform retirement age was needed to prevent disharmony, noting that another civilian employee continued working beyond 60 and a colleague’s contract allowed an extension.
The WRC also rejected the argument that financial savings justified Devereux’s retirement. It found that the Association had not assessed the financial impact across its civilian staff. The WRC concluded that Devereux had established a case of age discrimination and that the Association had not objectively justified its decision. On victimisation, it found that correspondence after the retirement notification was relatively normal, though somewhat hostile, and that the legal threshold was not met. The adjudicator chose reinstatement because the statutory compensation limit would not adequately compensate Devereux in her circumstances.