Vol. 444 No. 7
10 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform in view of the High Court decision in a case (details supplied), if he will amend the Employment Equality Act to cover such discrimination; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
27 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the call made by the Employment Equality Agency for an urgent review of the definition of the term sex discrimination in the Employment Equality Act following the dismissal by the Labour Court of a case taken by a person (details supplied); if he intends to initiate such a review; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 27 together.
I have seen the statement of the Employment Equality Agency arising from the case referred to by the Deputies.
In accordance with a commitment given in the Programme for a Partnership Government and re-affirmed in the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, my Department is at present engaged in the preparation of proposals for broadranging employment equality legislation. The proposed legislation will prohibit discrimination on a wide range of grounds including sexual orientation.
The Minister will be aware of a case where a lesbian women was dismissed from her job because management said that her sexual orientation could result in the company losing business. Can I take it that the legislation the Minister intends to introduce will cover such cases and that no man or woman will be dismissed because of sexual orientation?
The purport of the legislation is that a person may not be dismissed on account of sexual orientation alone. As I understand it, the case referred to was not quite decided on that issue. Inappropriate behaviour at work is a separate and distinct issue and the distinction must be drawn between the two — dismissal because of sexual orientation and dismissal because of behaviour at work. The court concluded that a man would have been likely to suffer the same treatment for a similar display of his sexual orientation. Legislation would provide for outlawing dismissal on account of sexual orientation but that is a separate matter from conduct at work. In other words, the fact that a person has a particular sexual orientation is not intended to confer on them immunity from dismissal in any circumstances.
I am sure the people concerned would not want the case rehashed in this forum. As I understand from press reports, the court found that the action complained of was not sufficient to warrant dismissal. However, as legislation did not deal with sexual orientation but gender the court could not give her a positive result although it felt she had been unfairly dismissed.
I understand the case was not brought under the Unfair Dismissals Act for whatever reason. It was brought under other legislation. The employment equality legislation I hope to introduce will include, as one of the protected classes, people of a particular sexual orientation and will render it unlawful to discriminate against a person who is in that category on that ground alone.
