ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00025438
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | An IT Systems Support Officer | A Hospital |
Representatives | Self | Aisling McDevitt, IBEC |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 | CA-00032325-001 | 19/11/2019 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 07/10/2020
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
This complaint was submitted to the WRC on November 19th 2019 and, in accordance with Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 - 2015, it was assigned to me by the Director General. Due to the closure of the WRC as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, a hearing was delayed until October 7th 2020. On that date, I made enquiries and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaint.
In complaints under the Employment Equality Acts, parties are generally named in the published decisions. However, due to the sensitivity of the medical information revealed at the hearing of this complaint, I have decided that the decision should be anonymised.
Background:
The complainant commenced employment in the hospital in March 2003. By the time of her retirement on May 20th 2019, she was in a Grade V role in the Clinical Activity Reporting Unit. She was compulsorily retired on the grounds of ill health and she is now in receipt of an ill-health early retirement pension. On the form she submitted to the WRC, the complainant alleges that, contrary to the provisions of the Employment Equality Acts, she has been discriminated against on the grounds of gender and disability. She alleges that this discrimination was manifested in the way she was victimised and harassed, denied training, and not given reasonable accommodation for her disability. At the commencement of the hearing, on behalf of the respondent, Ms McDevitt submitted that there were three preliminary points that she wished to raise. The first of these is the fact that the complainant has pursued these complaints at previous adjudication hearings and specifically in ADJ-00021831, the outcome of which she has appealed to the Labour Court. Secondly, Ms McDevitt argued that this complaint has been submitted in excess of the time limit set out at Section 77(5) (a) of the Employment Equality Act, which stipulates that a complaint must be referred within six months from the date of the occurrence of the alleged act of discrimination. Thirdly, the complainant seeks to rely on stress to pursue her complaint that she suffers from a disability. The respondent submits that stress does not come within the definition of disability for the purpose of the Employment Equality Act. I propose to consider the issue of the time limit as the only preliminary matter. |
Preliminary Issue: The Complaint was Submitted Outside the Time Limit
This complaint was submitted to the WRC on November 19th 2019, exactly six months after the complainant retired, on May 20th 2019. She had been absent from work due to illness for a number of weeks previously. On her complaint form, the complainant alleges that she was discriminated against in relation to training, that she was victimised and that she was not provided with reasonable accommodation in relation to a disability. She also claims that she was harassed. As she was not at work in the six months prior to the date on which she submitted this complaint, she cannot bring forward evidence of discrimination under any of the headings that she has cited. At the hearing, the complainant did not argue for an extension of time, and she left the hearing before the proceedings were concluded. |
Decision:
Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 82 of the Act.
I have concluded that there was no reasonable cause for the complainant submitting her complaints outside the legal time limit and I decide therefore, that I have no jurisdiction to adjudicate on these complaints. |
Dated: 18TH November 2020
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Discrimination, complaint is out of time |