The Workplace Relations Commission found that Luas driver Dermot Pisani’s age discrimination complaint against Transdev Dublin Light Rail Ltd was not well founded. The decision, dated 1 December 2023, concerned the company’s refusal to give him a second one-year contract after his first extension beyond the contractual retirement age of 65.
Pisani argued that the refusal lacked supporting evidence and that he had not been offered a medical examination or an appeal process. Transdev said a collective agreement allowed drivers who passed a medical examination to work one year beyond 65, but provided for no further extension.
The officer found that the retirement age was objectively justified for safety-critical tram drivers and that refusing a second fixed-term contract was also justified. The complaint was a substantive finding on the merits.