ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00040783
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Leon O'Connor | Permanent TSB PLC |
Representatives | Did not attend the hearing | Ronan Murray, Employee Relations Manager |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 | CA-00052151-001 | 04/08/2022 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 01/08/2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 - 2015, this complaint was assigned to me by the Director General. A hearing was arranged for Tuesday, August 1st 2023, for the parties to present evidence in respect of the complaint; however, the complainant, Mr Leon O’Connor did not attend.
Permanent TSB was represented by Mr Ronan Murray, Employee Relations Manager, Ms Lynn Mullin, Employee Relations Manager, Mr Robert Brennan and Ms Keri Archbold from the Digital Banking Department and the Recruitment Manager, Ms Bianca Santos. Permanent TSB provided a comprehensive submission in advance of the hearing date, and a copy was sent to Mr O’Connor on July 10th 2023.
When Mr O’Connor was not in attendance at the start time of 9.30am, I checked the case file to ensure that he was properly on notice of the hearing. I established that, on June 13th 2023, he was sent an email with a letter attached to notify him of the time and date of the hearing. There is no indication that the email was not received.
I note from the published decisions on the website of the WRC that this is the fourth occasion on which Mr O’Connor has failed to attend a hearing of a complaint he submitted under the Employment Equality Act against various financial institutions. His conduct in this regard is vexatious and a waste of the resources of the WRC and the respondents against whom he submitted complaints.
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.
In accordance with Section 79 of the Employment Equality Act, I am obliged to hold a hearing. I am satisfied that Mr O’Connor was notified of the arrangements for the hearing on August 1st 2023, and I find that his failure to attend was unreasonable. In these circumstances, any obligation to pursue an investigation in accordance with Section 79 of the Act has ceased. As Mr O’Connor did not attend the hearing to present evidence in support of his allegations of discrimination, I conclude the investigation and I find against him. |
Dated: 04/08/2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
The complainant did not attend the hearing. |