Siemens ordered to pay €12,000 compensation to job applicant

The Labour Court has ordered Siemens Ireland to pay €12,000 compensation to a visually impaired man who failed to get a job with the company as an IT support specialist.

Dublin man Martin O'Sullivan applied for the job with Siemens "in or about" November 2004, and part of the selection process involved completing a technical assessment in written form. Mr O'Sullivan was unable to undertake this due to his disability.

When he did not get the job he complained to the Equality Tribunal. It found that Siemens had not discriminated against him but that it had failed to provide him with appropriate measures to enable him take part fully in the selection process.

It awarded him €4,000 in compensation. The company accepted the finding and apologised to Mr O'Sullivan.

However, he appealed to the Labour Court. He told the court he had explained to a recruitment specialist for Siemens that he could not read from paper and asked whether a test required could be provided in electronic form, as he could only read from a computer. This was not done.

When he did not get the job he asked the recruitment specialist whether this was because of his impairment and she indicated that it was. The recruitment specialist told the Labour Court an electronic version of the test requested by Mr O'Sullivan was not available.

At his interview, experts on the panel concluded that his technical knowledge was inadequate and that his inability to read from paper was a concern. The recruitment specialist told the court that, in her opinion, Mr O'Sullivan's impairment influenced the decision not to offer him employment.

The court found that "the combined effect of the respondent's (Siemens Ireland) failure to provide the complainant with reasonable accommodation in the selection process, and the consideration which it gave to his disability in deciding on his application, constituted a single consolidated act of discrimination".

It also found that Mr O'Sullivan "was denied an opportunity to undertake an integral and otherwise essential part of the selection process because of his disability. This meant that the whole selection process was tainted with discrimination".

He was awarded €12,000 "for the effects of the discrimination which he suffered", to include the €4,000 awarded by the Equality Officer.

A Siemens spokesman was unavailable for comment last night.