The Labour Court rejected Mark Davis’s age discrimination appeal over a promotion competition at the Central Statistics Office, affirming the Equality Officer’s decision. Its determination was signed on 12 June 2014. Davis had challenged the assessment process in a 2009 competition for promotion to assistant principal, arguing that unpublished criteria discounted his experience and hindered his chances.
The Central Statistics Office denied discrimination, saying the competition used published competency criteria and that Davis’s application did not address them clearly. Davis, who was 55 when he applied, was placed joint 46th among 51 applicants.
The Court found the criteria were set out in Office Notice 11/2009 and saw no evidence that younger candidates faced different standards. It accepted that Davis’s application did not adequately address the required competencies and found no evidence that age affected his assessment. The complaint was not well founded, the appeal was disallowed and the Equality Officer’s decision was affirmed. Davis did not pursue his harassment and victimisation claims on appeal. An internal review had criticised aspects of the selection process and recommended improvements, but the Court said those concerns did not establish age discrimination.