Aer Lingus manager loses discrimination claim over ‘sexualised’ cabin crew uniform

An Aer Lingus cabin crew manager has lost a discrimination case which claimed female flight attendants were being “sexualised” by uniform rules requiring them to wear heels and nylons. Elizabeth Barry’s legal team argued that the airline’s Louise Kennedy-designed uniform, adopted in 2020, “still perpetuates the ‘trolley dolly’ image of its female cabin crew” and that there was a “strong association between high heels and female sexuality”. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was told that although flat shoes were worn on board aircraft, female flight attendants “must wear high heels when in uniform” outside the plane unless they had a medical exemption letter. Barry lodged two statutory claims against the airline, one under the Payment of Wages Act 1977 over a pay cut during the Covid-19 pandemic and a second under the Employment Equality Act 1998 alleging discrimination on the grounds of gender over the uniform rules. The claims were denied by the airline at hearing and were rejected by the commission in a decision published on Thursday. “In being compelled to wear a uniform that is far less practical and comfortable and that portrays an outdated and sexualised image of women, the complainant is degraded in her professional duties,” said Leonora Frawley BL, instructed by Maryse Jennings of KOD Lyons, for Barry. Frawley raised design concerns about the women’s jacket in the uniform and said the flat shoes issued to staff for use on board were “quite flimsy” while men wore “fit for purpose” lace-up shoes.<br/>