The Labour Court dismissed Dr Douglas Sorenson’s appeal on 28 July 2017, leaving in place the decision that his age-discrimination complaint against Teagasc Agriculture and Food Development Authority was not well founded. The Court found that Sorenson could not reopen substantially overlapping facts from an earlier case under the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Work) Act 2003.
Sorenson argued that Teagasc Agriculture and Food Development Authority’s eligibility rules for postdoctoral fellowships discriminated against older, more experienced applicants. The rules limited eligibility by the time since a researcher received a PhD and their postdoctoral experience. Teagasc Agriculture and Food Development Authority said the facts and legal arguments overlapped with the earlier case.
The Court noted that Sorenson had proceeded with the earlier case despite being invited to have both matters heard together. It found no special circumstances to justify rehearing the overlapping facts and said the renewed proceedings were an abuse of process.