A former advertising account director with Peter Owens Advertising and Marketing Ltd has been awarded £27,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal, because he was dismissed on grounds of his age. Mr John Kerrigan (62) worked for Peter Owens for nine years before being made redundant in November 1996.
Although equality legislation has outlawed discrimination on an age basis since 1993, this is believed to be the first time a company in the Republic has been sued for unfair dismissal on this basis.
The award was made on January 27th, and time for appeal has now elapsed. Mr Kerrigan has already received statutory redundancy and other entitlements totalling £3,000.
A spokeswoman for Peter Owens said yesterday that the company had decided not to comment on the case.
However, the chief executive of the Employment Equality Agency, Ms Carmel Foley, described the result as "marvellous, a landmark decision. It says to employers that it is unfair and illegal for employers to let somebody go because of their age."
Mr Kerrigan declined to comment personally on the award yesterday. But his solicitor, Mr Michael Kennedy, said that his client was very pleased with the outcome. The case had set an important precedent. He also said that the size of the award was indicative of the seriousness with which the tribunal regarded the issue.
The company claimed at the tribunal that a redundancy situation arose in the second half of 1996 because the company anticipated losing an important account on which Mr Kerrigan had been working. It decided to select him for redundancy after making "an analysis of account directors' portfolios." There were no agreed procedures in place to select people for redundancy.
However, Mr Kerrigan told the tribunal that the company secretary, Mr Sean O'Sullivan, informed him that his age was a factor in letting him go. The managing director, Mr Eddie O'Mahoney, was alleged to have told Mr Kerrigan that clients wanted to deal with 30-year-old account directors.
Mr Kerrigan's barrister, Mr Roddy Horan, told the tribunal that his client had been offered an extension on his pension scheme to 65 shortly before the redundancy crisis arose, and there had been no complaints about his work. He was still fully occupied at the time of his redundancy.
The tribunal ruled that "there was no redundancy situation in existence" and, from the evidence produced, that the claimant's dismissal "arose wholly or mainly from his age."
Before working for Peter Owens, Mr Kerrigan had been with Saatchi and Saatchi. He is now setting up his own business.