The Malta Transport Authority and the Board of Port Workers have rejected a man’s complaint that his grandfather’s port worker’s licence was not passed on to him because his mother was stopped from inheriting it on the basis of her gender.

The case started when Victoria Cassar sued the board when she was stopped from stepping into her father's shoes because she was a woman. After a long court saga, the constitutional court upheld her eligibility and ordered the board to register her as from 1992 – the date of her father's retirement. She was also awarded €799,168 in damages.

She decided to sit back and wait for an astronomical compensation

However, the decision was overturned on appeal and, as a result, the right of her 21-year old son, Carlo Cassar, to inherit the licence, was also affected. He subsequently filed a judicial protest against the Malta Transport Authority and the Port Workers Board.

However, in their counter-protest, the Malta Transport Authority and the Port Workers Board claimed that Ms Cassar had eventually been offered the option of applying for the port worker’s licence. However, she had allegedly turned down the offer, choosing instead to retain her post as bank manager.

They referred to the appeal judgment which observed that Ms Cassar “had the opportunity to apply but refused to do so for her own personal reasons. She decided to sit back and wait for an astronomical compensation”.

Since his mother had not taken up the offer, Mr Cassar could not hold “any legitimate expectations in this regard”, and was to retract his allegations, the court was told.

Lawyers Franco Vassallo and Joseph Camilleri signed the counter-protest.