The applicants had been convicted of terrorist related murders many years before, but had since disowned the use of violence. Their applications for employment with the respondent were turned down for their prior involvement in political and terrorist crime. They appealed against dismissal of their complaints of discrimination.
Held: The appeals failed. It was legitimate for an employer to make allowance for the claimants’ histories. They had not been employed, not for their political beliefs, but because of a concern that employing them might pose risks for the vulnerable people who were cared for by the community. The words used in the Order were derived from a time which may have been less forgiving of past activities, and many still lived with the burden of consequences of those activities. It was not surprising or or absurd that the Order was intended to apply in this way.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Lord Carswell, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
[2009] UKHL 24, [2009] WLR (D) 161
Bailii, Times, WLRD
Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (SI 1998 No 3162 (NI 21)) 2 19
Northern Ireland
Citing:
At Tribunal – McConkey and Another v The Simon Community (NI) FENI 4-Apr-2006
. .
Appeal From – McConkey v Simon Community Northern Ireland CANI 21-Feb-2008
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Northern Ireland, Discrimination
Leading Case
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.346223
