ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00006645
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Employees | Medical Devices Company |
Representatives | Eamon Concannon Concannon Solicitors | John Brennan IBEC |
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-00009037-001 | 12/01/2017 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 | CA-00009038-001 | 12/01/2017 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 05/04/2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Ray Flaherty
Location of Hearing: Galway Maldron Hotel
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and 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 Complainants contend that they are being discriminated against, bullied , harassed and victimised by their employer and supervisors. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
At the commencement of the Hearing, the legal representative for the Complainants sough an adjournment on the basis that a Freedom of Information request submitted to the Respondent on 16 March 2017 (and which was received by the Respondent on 20 March 2017) had not been responded to.It was contended on behalf of the Complainants that the information being sought is important to the presentation of the complaints referred for hearing. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The representative for the Respondent submitted that they were not covered under Freedom of Information legislation. The request on behalf of the Complainants should have been made under Data Protection legislation. The Respondent also submitted that they were unaware as to the nature of the complaints that were before the Hearing today, as nothing had been raised locally within the organisation. The Complainants did not pursue any internal grievance/complaint through the established internal procedures. Consequently, the Respondent contends that the Adjudication Officer has no jurisdiction to hear the case today. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Prior to considering the request for adjournment, it was first necessary to consider the matter of jurisdiction as raised by the Respondent. Consequently, I provided the Complainants with the opportunity to establish whether or not formal grievance complaints had been raised through the internal grievance procedure and/or whether or not formal bullying, harassment or victimisation complaints had been raised with the employer. It was established that one meeting (in relation to one of the Complainants only) took place on 22 September 2016, at which the management representative advised that Complainant that if they had a grievance they should raise it through the formal grievance procedure and it would be investigated by the organisation. There is no evidence to suggest that the Complainant in question ever pursued a grievance following that meeting. In addition, no evidence was provided to the effect that either complainant had raised a complaint of bullying, harassment or victimisation in line with the organisation’s policy/procedures in that regard. Consequently, I find that the Complainants have not formally raised their grievances/complaints and have not engaged in the internal procedures in place for dealing with such situations. Based on the above, I find there are no grounds to agree to an adjournment as the release, by the Respondent, of whatever information/documentation the Complainants are seeking will not change the reality that the internal procedures have not been initiated or exhausted |
Recommendation:
Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.]
Based on the evidence presented to me today and in line with the findings/conclusions set out above, I recommend that the Complainants raise their complaints formally with their employer and utilise the appropriate internal procedures which are in place for dealing with such situations. |
Dated: 22nd May 2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Ray Flaherty
Key Words:
Bullying and Harassment Internal Procedures
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