Northern Ireland institute pays out €56,000 in discrimination cases

Two Northern Ireland women have been awarded £47,500 (€56,000) in settlement of claims alleging they were subjected to sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation.

Carole Daly (29), from Belfast and Hollie Lewis (31), from Bangor, Co Down, took the cases against the Northern Ireland Agri-Food and Bio-Sciences Institute.

Both women said the discrimination occurred at the institute’s laboratory at Newforge Lane in Belfast. The institute paid Ms Daly £25,000 and Ms Lewis £22,500.

The women worked as assistant scientific officers (ASOs) at the institute and both said they were consistently treated less favourably by the male ASO and the senior scientific officer. They said they were subjected to abusive conduct by both of them.

Ms Daly and Ms Lewis said the project leader, a senior scientific officer, frequently described the only male ASO as “the top dog” and said the other female staff were below him. They also said they were shouted at without justification and, when they complained repeatedly about the situation, their complaints were not dealt with.

The two women went on sick leave due to work-related stress. Ms Lewis subsequently left her employment under a voluntary exit scheme, while Ms Daly returned to work but in another department.

The institute apologised for the distress suffered by the women. It affirmed its commitment to equality of opportunity in employment and also undertook to meet the North's Equality Commission to review procedures.

Settlement

The two women said they were happy with the settlement. “As a woman working in a technical and scientific role I was very upset to be treated so badly,” Ms Lewis said.

“When I challenged this behaviour and tried to have the situation rectified I felt nobody took me seriously.”

Ms Daly said she “never envisaged I would experience the type of treatment that I had to endure”.