Labour Court rejects worker’s Dublin Bus promotion fairness claims, recommends appeal route

The Labour Court found no unfairness in a Dublin Bus promotion process but recommended that the company allow workers to appeal external investigation reports to the Rights Commissioner’s Service in future. The recommendation was signed on 27 September 2011. A worker represented by SIPTU challenged his unsuccessful 2006 bid for promotion from bus driver to inspector, alleging favouritism and saying an accident report had affected his chances. Dublin Bus said the report was not considered by the selection panel. The Court found no evidence of bias, said the report played no part in selection and found no basis to draw an adverse inference from the destruction of selection records. It accepted that the worker should have been allowed to appeal the external investigator’s report under the company’s procedures.