Waterford special needs school to pay €40k to assistant not offered contract due to pregnancy

Seán McCárthaigh

A special needs assistant (SNA) who was not offered a new contract at a school in Co Waterford because she was pregnant has been awarded compensation of €40,000.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the board of management of St John’s Special School in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, had discriminated against SNA, Amy Beer, on grounds of gender in breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998.

The WRC said it was making the award for the effects of the “egregious nature” of the school’s treatment of the SNA, who was already working in St John’s on a fixed-term contract.

The WRC also ordered the school’s board to carry out a review of its procedures and training in relation to its recruitment and selection processes to ensure that they are fair, objective and transparent and comply with employment equality legislation.

It ruled that the school had failed to provide credible evidence that its treatment of Ms Beer, in the process of appointing SNA positions for the school year 2023/24 was not related to her pregnancy.

The WRC said the selection process was “tainted and lacked transparency.”

WRC adjudication officer, Valerie Murtagh, said she found evidence by the school’s principal that she had miscalculated the number of SNA positions available as “disjointed, lacking in credibility and unconvincing.”

Ms Murtagh said evidence provided by the chair of the board of management also lacked cogency and “did not tally with that of the principal and the events as they unfolded.”

St John’s Special School had denied that it had discriminated against the SNA and noted it had received 55 applications for positions in the school.

It also pointed out that Ms Beer was offered any vacancy which arose while on maternity leave which she had declined due to the WRC case.

Ms Beer told the WRC that she had informed school management in February 2023 of her pregnancy and later told them informally that she would be taking maternity leave in August 2023.

The SNA said she was also encouraged to apply for a number of positions that were being advertised in June 2023.

However, Ms Beer claimed she was subsequently not offered any position following an interview on June 26th, 2023 which included two members who were aware of her pregnancy.

She told the WRC that she was “shocked and confused” at the interview because of its short and casual nature.

When she attempted to seek an explanation, Ms Beer said she was phoned by the principal at 9pm but she asked to keep contact formal and in writing.

The SNA said the principal subsequently made cutting remarks in an e-mail and branded her concerns as “accusations.”

Ms Beer said the principal then attempted to soften the discrimination by stating she was “next in line” for a position which she said was later corrected by the chairperson of the board of management who stated there were six other candidates “in front” of her.

The WRC heard she missed the last day of the school year because of stress and did not get to say goodbye to pupils and staff whom she had been working with all year.

She subsequently contacted the board’s chairperson to seek clarity about what would happen if more positions became available.

Ms Beer said she was offered a fixed-term contract for one day per week that had become available as she was “first on the panel,” even though she believed there were others ranked before her.

She told the WRC that she did not accept the principal’s claim that she had made an error by ranking Ms Beer 10th when she should have been ranked joint 9th.

Ms Beer said the repercussions of the discrimination had been far-reaching beyond immediate financial losses, as she had suffered emotional distress, professional setbacks and a tarnished reputation.

WRC adjudication officer, Valerie Murtagh, noted that Ms Beer had already been performing well in the school, while two of her colleagues who had worked less time in the school than she had were appointed to SNA roles for 2023/24.

She observed that the complainant was the only person not already working in the school not to get a new position.

Ms Murtagh said it was noteworthy that Ms Beer was recommended for a one-year fixed-term contract in an email from the school on June 26th, 2023.

However, she said it was hard to reconcile that fact with the evidence of the principal that she realised the following day that she had overestimated the SNA allocations and vacancies on offer.

In contrast to the evidence of the principal and chair of the board of management, Ms Murtagh said she found Ms Beer a credible witness who had provided “clear, cogent and compelling testimony.”

The WRC did not uphold a complaint by Ms Beer that she had also been discriminated against on grounds of family status.