The Labour Court disallowed National University of Ireland Maynooth’s appeal and declared that Lorraine Kane had a contract of indefinite duration from 15 November 2010. The determination was dated 14 August 2015.
Maynooth argued that time-limited Enterprise Ireland funding justified keeping Kane on a fixed-term contract in its Commercialisation Office. Kane, represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, argued she was entitled to an indefinite contract after successive fixed-term employment.
The Court noted that Maynooth had given another employee on the same project a contract extending beyond the stated end of the funding, indicating that it anticipated the funding would continue. It found the Commercialisation Office had become integral to the University and that Kane’s work met a continuing need. The Court concluded that the stated grounds for renewing her contract were not the real grounds and that the renewal was unlawful.
Kane remained employed on improved terms and had suffered no economic loss, so the Court made no compensatory award.