NUI Galway Ordered To Promote Female Lecturer And Pay Her €70,000 in Damages

The National University of Ireland in Galway has been instructed to retrospectively promote a female lecturer in the University and pay her €70,000 as a result of the findings of the Equality Tribunal.  The tribunal found that Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, who is a lecturer at the School of Botany since 1990, had been discriminated against on the grounds of gender when she was not selected for a senior lecture role at the university. The tribunal stated that she had been discriminated against both directly and indirectly and have ordered the university to promote her and pay her €70,000 in damages. Dr Sheehy Skeffington applied for the post back in 2009, having taught at the university for 19 years. It was her fourth time to apply for a senior lecturing role, but she was not appointed to the position. The tribunal went on to describe the university's interview process as “ramshackle” and have instructed the university to review their system following the finding that one one male candidate who had been promoted was actually not even eligible to apply for the role. Dr Sheehy Skeffington brought the complaint against the university as she believed that the process for the position was against women. According to the tribunal, who found in her favour, the process seemed to be a fair on paper but that in reality it actually wasn’t fair for women. Only one woman featured on the interview board, while out of 17 people promoted to the senior lecturer position, only one was female. Dr Sheehy Skeffington also claimed that she had higher contact hours with students then some of the other applicants. It has also been reported that the university’s own statistics show that male applicants have a higher percentage rate of success for promotion. NUI Galway accepted the decision and apologised for the distress caused; “The University very much regrets the distress caused to Dr. Sheehy Skeffington in this matter, thanks her for her contribution over many years and wishes her well in the future."