A part-time solicitor employed by the Legal Aid Board has been awarded €15,000 compensation by the Labour Court after it found "serious errors" had been made in the board's recruitment process.

The solicitor applied for promotion by way of competition but was unsuccessful.

It later transpired that the successful candidate had only two-and-a-half years experience as a solicitor, though the advertised position stated candidates must have a minimum of three years' post-qualification experience.

The trade union Siptu, which represented the part-time solicitor, also pointed out that the interviewing panel "failed to notice that only one page of a three-page manager's assessment report" had been submitted on the solicitor's behalf.

"There is a systematic bias and built-in prejudice against part-time solicitors in respect of promotion opportunities," argued Siptu at the Labour Court.

The board accepted that while administrative errors were made, it did not disadvantage the applicant. It added that the candidate had a "fair interview" carried out by experienced interviewers who decided she did not reach the required standard for the position at the time.

The state-funded board, which provides legal aid and advice to persons of modest means, said it did not accept that "an administrative error in respect of one candidate means that the outcome of the whole process should be called into question."

A Rights Commissioner – the first port of call for such claims – recommended that the part-time solicitor be paid €1,750 for upset caused by "the administrative error."

The part-time solicitor appealed the commissioner's award to the Labour Court who took a far more serious view of the board's behaviour. In increasing the Rights Commissioner's award almost tenfold, Raymond McGee, deputy chairman of the Labour Court, said this was to "reflect the serious nature of the upset caused to a valued member of staff."