A groundskeeper who was nearing retirement when he said his bosses began "spying" on him, told him he was "slowing down" and replaced his broken electric litter cart with a manual version that he had to push 15km a day has been awarded €15,000 for ageist discrimination.
Awarding the sum in a Workplace Relations Commission decision this morning, an adjudicator said she was of the view that the failure of the worker's bosses to repair or replace the cart "may" have been an attempt to encourage him to quit his job at the Park West business campus in Dublin.
The worker, Gary Prendergast, secured the award on foot of a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 against Park West Utilities Management Ltd in a decision published by the WRC this morning.
Mr Prendergast had spent more than 15 years working at the site when he took medical leave for stress in October 2022 - stress evidenced with medical notes and which he maintained was brought on by a sense that his manager was "spying" on him, the tribunal was told.
His position was that for the four years up to this point, the firm's operations manager would watch him.
This was accompanied by remarks from his supervisor about the pace of his work, including: "The others are doing it twice as fast as you" and "We have noticed you slowing down," it was alleged.
Mr Prendergast said that the electric cart he had been using to pick up litter and leaves broke down in June 2022 and that it was replaced by a manual hand-cart which he had to push some 15km a day on his rounds.
Giving evidence, he said he was "expected to do the same job" with the unpowered cart even though that made the task "more difficult and tiring".
He said the operations manager told him that a supervisor had seen him "slowing down" when he referred him to the company doctor in October 2022 and said: "We might have to let you go."
The operations manager in his evidence said that it was his job to "check on staff" on the campus.
The witness told the WRC the company which used to maintain the electric cart was no longer trading in Ireland and that it would have be sent to Germany to be repaired, which he explained would cost too much to be economic.
In her decision on the case, adjudicator Catherine Byrne said she accepted the evidence of the operations manager that it was "not economic" to send the electric cart for repairs in Germany but said she had come to the view that there "must be" alternative options available on the market.
The failure to provide a motorised cart to replace the old one caused Mr Prendergast a "significant disadvantage… specifically because of his age", Ms Byrne wrote.
She noted that the worker was "a few years away from retirement" and that it was "particularly laborious and physically demanding" for him to use the manual cart instead.
There was no evidence a younger worker was being made to do the same work with "the same outdated equipment", she added.
"It is my view that this treatment may have had the objective of encouraging him to leave his job," Ms Byrne added.
The adjudicator concluded that the company's failure to consider the impact of losing the electric cart on Mr Prendergast's quality of life at work "had the effect of discriminating against him on the ground of his age" and upheld his complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998.
Ms Byrne ordered Park West Utilities Management Ltd to pay Mr Prendergast €15,000 in compensation.
