ADJ-00029828

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

Ambulance Care Operative

An Ambulance Service

Representatives

Eoin Drummey UNITE

Emily Mahon HSE

The employee in an ambulance care operative with the employer.  While on duty on 14/12/2015 a number of interactions occurred between the employee and a colleague.  The colleague submitted a detailed letter of complaint in relation to this incident.  The line manager met with both the employee and his colleague on 06/01/2016 and reviewed the issues and sought to resolve matters informally.  While there was some disagreement there was also some matters not agreed but the manager understood that the matter was concluded.  Subsequently the employee became aware of the complaint letter and received a copy.  He was not aware of all the detail contained in the letter at the time of the meeting and therefore considered the matter unresolved.

A series of e mails and meetings took place and while the employer felt that the matter was dealt with the employee continued to seek to have his good name restored and the matter properly dealt with.

The complainant was covering a shift for a colleague on 15/12/2015.  The colleague he was working with did not seem happy with this. During the course of the day a number of incidents occurred and this sequence of events together with some interpersonal exchanges led to a difficult working relationship.  The employee and the colleague were met by the line manager on 06/01/2016 and the employee understood that the intention was to work out matters which would improve their working relationship.  There were a number of things agreed and at the end of the meeting neither the employee or his colleague had any other matters to discuss.

Subsequent to this meeting the employee obtained a copy of the letter of complaint from his line manager.  He was unaware of its existence at the meeting on 06/01/2016.  This letter contained a number of complaints and allegations which were upsetting to the employee.  He wrote to his line manager asking that the matter be looked into as he did not want any more allegations to be sent in by the colleague.  The employee also submitted a written response, dated 02/02/2016, to the letter of complaint.  When he got no response to this letter he escalated this to a senior manager on 18/02/2016.  He did not get a reply and sent a further letter to his line manager on 20/03/2016.  The employee made contact with the HR department on 24/02/2017 and was advised that there was no dignity at work or grievance issues outstanding. On 08/01/2018 the employee raised a grievance in relation to this matter and this was dealt with under stage 1 of the procedure.  This did not resolve the grievance and the matter was moved to stage 2.  He was advised on 17/04/2018 that the investigation team would be dealing with all aspects of the process.  The employee requested an update on 07/05/2018.  The employee felt that things were still not resolved, and he submitted his complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission on 31/08/2020.

The employee has two issues of concern.  Firstly, the complaint was not properly investigated or withdrawn and secondly the employer failed to deal with his concerns about this complaint or to respond promptly or not to respond.

The employer believed that the matters contained in the complaint were never substantiated.  The employer confirms that “there was no imputation of wrongdoing to the employee, and there was nothing found that warranted any sanction imposed on him”.  At all times the employer sought to deal with the matter in an informal manner.  The employer acknowledges that the employee should have been given a copy of the letter of complaint and allowed to make a detailed response. The employer attempted to address any shortcomings at subsequent meetings and allowed the employee to respond to the issues.  The employer believes that the contents of the complaint letter cold not be proven and would not be placed on the employees record.  At all times the employer felt that as the complaint could not be upheld no further action was required and the matter was concluded.

In conducting my investigation, I have taken into account all relevant submissions presented to me by the parties and the discussions at the hearing.  I note that the employer has acknowledged that there was a partial failure in the application of the process relevant to this complaint and also they have apologised at the hearing to the employee for this.

I believe that this matter needs to be formally investigated.  The employer needs to put its investigation process in place to bring finality to this complaint.

grievance.  Complaint.  Investigation.