The Labour Court allowed an appeal by The Housing Sustainable Communities Agency T/A The Housing Agency and varied the Adjudication Officer’s decision in a gender discrimination case brought by Auveen Coombes-Lynch. The determination was dated 7 January 2023. Coombes-Lynch’s cross-appeal was unsuccessful.
Coombes-Lynch said male colleagues were given on-site project management opportunities that she was denied. The Agency argued that the colleagues worked in technical roles and that she had not established facts supporting an inference of gender discrimination.
The Court found that her account of a site visit did not establish a prima facie case, meaning facts from which discrimination could be presumed. It said her assertion that a male colleague would not have had to complete his regular work as well was unsupported by evidence.