Fire service employee wins discrimination case in court

The Labour Disputes Court in Paphos awarded €10,000 in compensation to a female firefighter, finding that the Cyprus Fire Service had subjected her to direct gender discrimination.

The court established that for more than three years the employee was forced to work in firefighting boots three sizes larger than required. In addition, she was denied training on new airport firefighting equipment, while her male colleagues received such training.

The woman served at the Paphos Airport fire station from 2015 to 2018 and filed a lawsuit seeking €50,000 in compensation. The Attorney General’s Office claimed there had been no discrimination, but the court disagreed.

Ultimately, the court found discrimination on two counts:

• lack of training on new equipment;
• provision of improperly sized protective gear.

The compensation amounted to:

• €6,000 — for denial of professional training;
• €4,000 — for wearing unsuitable footwear.

This is the first such case in which a firefighter in Cyprus has obtained compensation for gender discrimination by the Fire Service.