Roseanna Nolan v Quality Hotel, Oranmore, now trading as Maldron Hotel, Galway [2012]

This is another case from the hospitality sector, this time concerning a kitchen worker was dismissed when the employer realised that she was 68 years of age. She had been employed since 1998 and took ill in April 2009. The hospital medical certificate set out her date of birth and she was dismissed with four weeks’ notice.

The respondent claimed that she must have given an inaccurate date of birth on her application form but, since the hotel had changed hands, a copy was not available for the Tribunal. She also explained a false date of birth on a medical questionnaire in March 2004 as a mistake by her daughter who had filled it out for her.

The Tribunal took into account the complainant’s