ADJUDICATION OFFICER RECOMMENDATION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00008238

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	Clerical Officer	A Hospital

Representatives

Una Fadden of Robinson O'Neill Solicitors

Aisling McDevitt 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-00010754-001	10/04/2017

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 19/09/2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act of 1969 (as amended by the Workplace Relations Act 2015 so as to include Adjudication Officers) and where a trade dispute (not specifically precluded by Sect. 13) has been identified and has been referred to the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission who in turn refers such a dispute to an Adjudication Officer, so appointed, for the purpose of having the said dispute heard in similar manner as has been set out in Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and/or Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act which allows the Adjudication Officer to Investigate a matter raised. The Adjudication Officer will additionally and where appropriate hear all relevant oral evidence of the parties and their witnesses and will take into account any and all documentary or other evidence which may be tendered in the course of the hearing.

Having confirmed that the Complainant herein is a Worker within the meaning of the Acts and Having conducted the Investigation as described in Section 13, I, as the so appointed Adjudication Officer, am bound to make a recommendation which will set forth my opinion on the merits of the within dispute.

Summary of Submissions made

The Complainant had made certain Bullying and Harassment complaints against another person in the workplace (Lady A). A third party Employment Consulting Company was engaged to perform a comprehensive workplace investigation. The final Report was made known to the complainant on or about the 3^rd of August 2016. The Investigation Report contained several conclusions reached by the Investigator, made certain recommendations and made certain findings facts on a balance of probabilities.

The Complainant was not satisfied with the conclusions reached and facts so found.

The Complainant understood that he would be invited and/or entitled to make comment on the Report on it’s conclusion and this is specifically provided for in the Dignity in the Workplace policy in operation in the Workplace.

The Complainant’s Solicitor went further and requested that the Final Report be subject to an Appeal or a Review of some sort and this request was made known to the Employer.

The Employer asked a Ms. T to consider the Investigation Report but did not ask that the Complainant’s comments and or observations form part of that process. Ms. T on reading the content of the Report found that there was no need for an Appeal or a Review of the final report as the Report had been prepared in full and fair consideration of the parties positions.

Recommendation:

Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute. This recommendation is made with the knowledge and input of the parties.

I recognise the Employer’s efforts to conduct a fair and comprehensive process which ranged from workplace mediation to the engaging of an independent Investigator. It is regrettable that at the very end of a long process the Employer did not afford the employee a voice to make whatever observations he might have had in connection with the final Investigative Report.

In the circumstances I recommend that as soon as may be practicable the Employer nominates an appropriate person who can review the Investigative processes and findings in conjunction with any observations and/or comments that the Complainant and Lady A might have to make about same. This may relate to

The manner in which the investigation was conducted.
The Outcome of the investigation
Any of the Findings of Fact made in the course of the Investigation.

The employer has discretion to appoint whomsoever it might choose though not someone touched by the process to date.

I recommend that The Employer start this process as soon as practicable by writing out to the parties to submit their comments and observations. These submissions to arrive concurrently and in accordance with whatever time frame is appropriately afforded the parties.

Thereafter, it is anticipated that a fair review of the Investigation process be conducted.

Dated: 20^th November 2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath

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