Labour Court rejects Lucy McCarthy’s appeal over fixed-term teaching contract

The Labour Court rejected Lucy McCarthy’s appeal and upheld the Rights Commissioner’s decision that her fixed-term work complaint against Scoil Dara was not well founded. The determination was signed on 23 March 2012. McCarthy argued that three geography periods added to her teaching duties in 2009/2010 broke the link between her employment and the music teacher she had been hired to replace, entitling her to a contract of indefinite duration. Scoil Dara said she was hired to cover the teacher’s approved leave and was assigned other subjects to make up her hours. The Court found the geography classes did not materially change the main purpose of her employment, so the school had objective grounds to renew her fixed-term contract.