Tallaght Hospital has been ordered to pay €1,000 compensation to a female ward attendant for indirect discrimination when it filled a number of portering jobs.
The Dublin hospital was also ordered by the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations, which made the ruling, to review its recruitment, selection and appointment procedures to ensure they comply with the Employment Equality Act, 1998.
The ODEI ruled that the hospital had indirectly discriminated against Ms Sheila Wilson on gender grounds when she applied for one of a number of jobs as permanent porter in February 2000. The jobs were advertised internally and, based on her application, Ms Wilson was placed on a panel.
Ms Wilson, whose address was not given in the ruling, claimed that how the hospital awarded the jobs amounted to indirect discrimination, as it gave preference to staff with previous service as temporary porters. This, she said, substantially disadvantaged more females than males as all temporary porters were male at the time.
The hospital said 13 applicants were interviewed, nine male and four female. Eight of the nine males were already employed as temporary porters and were given permanent posts in May 2000. All other applicants - one male and four female - were placed on a panel.
It accepted that all porters were male until Ms Wilson was taken off the panel and given a temporary job in June 2000. She was made permanent in December. It said the grade continued to be male-dominated because women do not apply for the post.
The ODEI found that two of the eight men appointed had received lower scores at interview than Ms Wilson.
It noted that the hospital's actions in giving preference to staff with previous service as temporary porters disadvantaged the female applicants. It ordered that Ms Wilson's appointment as permanent porter be backdated to May 2000, and that she be paid €1,000 for the distress suffered.