Labour Court Overturns WRC Decision on Mandatory Retirement of Civilian Garda Driver

The Labour Court recently issued its decision on an appeal of a Workplace Relations Commission (“WRC”) decision which found that Mr Tom Ronan, a civilian garda driver (the “Complainant”), was discriminated against when he was forced to retire at 70. The WRC Adjudicator, Brian Dalton, ordered re-engagement of the Complainant in his role as a driver and a three-year extension of his employment from the date of re-engagement. We examined the WRC decision in our newsletter article “WRC Orders Re-Engagement of Driver Forced to Retire at 70 – Mandatory Retirement ‘Highly Likely’ to Cause Him Financial Hardship” here. In An Garda Siochana v Tom Ronan (EDA2560) the Labour Court overturned the WRC decision.

Facts: The Complainant was a Civil Servant who commenced employment as a driver with the Department of Justice in January 2020, and was subsequently transferred to An Garda Síochána. He was retired from his role when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. The Complainant argued that some of his colleagues in comparable roles were permitted to work past 70. He claimed that he was discriminated against on the ground of age and that he needed to keep working due to his personal circumstances, arguing that he would endure financial hardship post-retirement. The Adjudicator in the WRC agreed that he was discriminated against notwithstanding that the retirement age had already been found to be objectively justified, placing significant emphasis on the issue of financial hardship. He decided that on the facts of the case, the mandatory retirement age for the Complainant was unreasonable.

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