The Labour Court upheld National University of Ireland Galway’s appeal over the time limit for John F Cunningham’s pension complaint and rejected his appeal against the finding that part of the complaint was not well founded. The Court’s determination was signed on 13 April 2015.
Cunningham said the University had treated him less favourably than a permanent employee by not recognising his service from 1998 to 2008 for pension purposes. He said he had worked on successive fixed-term contracts. The University said he was self-employed until late 2008, then worked on a one-year fixed-term contract and later on a casual basis.
The Court found the complaint about alleged pension treatment between 2003 and 2008 was statute barred because the alleged acts fell outside the statutory time limit. It overturned the Rights Commissioner’s decision that this part of the complaint was in time. For the period from August 2008 until Cunningham’s retirement in May 2011, the Court agreed that the complaint was not well founded because he was included in the University’s pension scheme.
The University’s appeal succeeded on the time-limit issue, while Cunningham’s appeal failed. The Court’s determination therefore changed the earlier finding on whether the older allegations could be considered, while leaving in place the finding on the later period.