University College Cork has taken a High Court challenge to a Labour Court finding that 43 security service operatives, mostly men, in the university had been discriminated against in that they were paid less than certain female college employees for work deemed of equal value.
Mr Paul O'Higgins SC, for UCC, said the operatives brought a claim in 1988 under the 1974 Anti-Discrimination Pay Act. They alleged they were discriminated against because they were paid less than switchboard operators and laboratory assistants in the college.
An equality officer decided against the security operatives' claim concerning laboratory assistants. In relation to one switch board operator, the officer also decided that person was doing work of greater value and therefore the security operatives claim failed.
The equality officer found there was discrimination, but not in a direct way as a small number of the security officers were women. Rather, the officer found, because the security operatives were predominantly men and the secretarial assistants were predominantly women, indirect discrimination had arisen.
The officer decided the security operatives should be awarded equal pay which should be backdated for a period of three years from the making of the claim.
Mr O'Higgins said the security operatives' claim was effectively founded on the proposition that there were job-sharing secretariat switchboard operators whose work was not more demanding and equal in value to that of the security operatives. In those circumstances it was decided there was indirect discrimination for which there was no appropriate justification.
The college authorities appealed the decision to the Labour Court and that court's findings was now being appealed to the High Court.
The hearing before Mr Justice Lavan continues.