Poonam Singh

Even though many job aspirants face age and sex discrimination during interviews, only a few have the guts to stand against it and report about it.

In one such instance, a woman in Northern Ireland not only filed a lawsuit against Dominos Pizza but has also got compensation from the fast food chain for age and sex discrimination during an interview for a delivery driver.

Reportedly, Janice Walsh had applied for a job as a delivery driver at the pizza company's location in Strabane, County Tyrone. 

In an interview with BBC News, Janice revealed that she was questioned about her age as the first question. Janice said that interviewer had circled her age on the application and said, "You don't look it."

Later, Jancie was informed that she was not accepted for the position which made Janice certain that her age and sex were the main reasons of her rejection as after the interview also Domino's kept running job ads for drivers.

Following this, she even reached out to the fast food restaurant branch on Facebook to discuss the discrimination she experienced.

Janice stated that the interview panel apologised and said that interviewer was unaware that asking about someone's age in an interview was improper.

However, Janice chose the legal path and with the support of the Northern Ireland Equality Commission, she filed a discrimination action following which, the fast food restaurant not only apologised to Janice but also paid her a settlement amount of 4,000 pounds (approximately Rs 3 lakh).

Meanwhile, Dominos Pizza in a formal statement on the matter said that the franchisee model that the restaurant employs the branch's hiring and employment decisions are not under its direct control. It further assured that it was taking care of the situation.

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