The Labour Court upheld a Rights Commissioner’s decision and disallowed Orla McDermott’s appeal against Eircom over her pension scheme. The determination was dated 16 February 2005. The Court found she had not proved that her defined contribution scheme treated her less favourably than the defined benefit scheme available to comparable permanent employees.
Ms McDermott’s appeal concerned the period from 14 July 2003 to 3 January 2004, when she was a fixed-term employee. The Court accepted that she was placed in a different pension scheme because of her fixed-term status, but said the evidence could not establish which scheme was likely to provide the more favourable retirement benefit. The Rights Commissioner had also found no less favourable pension treatment during the period considered.