The Labour Court disallowed Marian Cassidy’s appeal and affirmed the Equality Officer’s finding that Citigroup had not discriminated against her on age grounds. The determination was signed on 15 May 2006.
Cassidy said Citigroup passed her over for promotion in favour of younger colleagues and excluded her from a work-related social event. The company said promotion depended on performance ratings and invitations to the event were limited.
The Court found the promoted colleagues had higher performance ratings and no viable evidence showed that the appraisals were tainted by age discrimination. It found the exclusion from the event was not significant enough to support an inference of discrimination. The Court considered remarks attributed to Citigroup’s president inappropriate and capable of suggesting a preference for younger employees, but found no discernible connection to the company’s practices or policies. It concluded Cassidy had not established facts from which age discrimination could be inferred.