Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00006943

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	Porter	Hospital

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969	CA-00009446-001	31/01/2017

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 07/06/2017

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 [ and/or Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts 1969] following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).

Background:

The Claimant is appealing a final written warning.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

This appeal is made against a sanction of a final written warning which remains on the Claimant’s file until 7 December 2017. He is alleged to have been found in breach of the dignity at work policy under the following headings;

That he used inappropriate language when he accused his supervisor of being a liar

That he was not taking instruction from his supervisor

The Claimant received a final written warning in December 2016. He appealed the sanction and has exhausted the internal procedures. The sanction was upheld.

This is not a case of bullying as no adverse effects have been ever been reported. The accuser never lost time as a result of the Claimant expressing his opinion. No steps were taken by the Respondent to separate the parties during the investigation process. The working relationship was not damaged as both parties are working productively before during and since this complaint.

The complaint was made in Mat 2016 but the investigation was not concluded until December 2016. It was argued that the final written warning was unfair and disproportionate.

Details of the events surrounding the complaint were presented to the Hearing.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

Details of the incident , investigation, decision and appeal were provided to the Hearing. The Claimant has previously been warned for inappropriate language and insubordination on a number of occasions in the course of his employment.

These include;

March 2014-written warning for actions amounting to insubordination and misconduct towards his supervisor

May 2014- verbal warning for acting in an inappropriate and unprofessional manner and failing to follow direct instructions from an anaesthetic SPR.

December 2014- verbal warning for insubordination to a divisional nurse manager

December 2015- written warning for inappropriate language and comments in relation to a recruitment process.

In his appeal the Claimant stated that he never deliberately set out to bully anyone. However, intention is not a defence where bullying is deemed to have occurred. Given the behaviour of the Claimant the imposition of a final written warning was the lowest level sanction that could be imposed by the Respondent.

Recommmendation:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

[Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.]

I have considered the submissions of both parties. I note the Claimant has long service with Respondent. However, given the number of warnings he has received since May 2014 for similar misconduct, it is clear that he has learnt nothing in regard to his behaviour. His behaviour is not acceptable in any workplace. I fully accept the Respondent position that a final written warning is ‘the lowest level sanction that could be imposed’. In other employments this type of behaviour would led to a dismissal of the Claimant.

I therefore do not find his case well founded and it fails.

Dated: 31 August 2017

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