ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00044127
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Ian Metcalfe | Aldi (Ireland) Limited |
Representatives | Self-Represented | Ms K Ennis BL instructed by Vincent & Beatty LLP |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 21 Equal Status Act, 2000 | CA-00054058-001 | 05/12/2022 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 28/04/2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act and Section 25 of the Equal Status Act, 2000following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.
In deference to the Supreme Court ruling, Zalewski v Ireland and the WRC [2021] IESC 24 on the 6th of April 2021 the Parties were informed in advance that the Hearing would normally be in Public, Testimony under Oath or Affirmation would be required and full cross examination of all witnesses would be provided for.
The required Affirmation / Oath was administered to all witnesses present. The legal perils of committing Perjury were explained to all parties.
In relation to Confidentiality, no issues arose.
Background:
The issue in contention is a complaint from the Complainant alleging Sexual Harassment & Victimisation on the Gender and Age Grounds. The issue arose out of an interaction in a Branch of the Chain on the 24th of November 2021 at 9:10 hrs. the Complainnat maintained that he had been “Touched and pushed inappropriately” by a Staff member of the Respondent Company. |
Opening Issue: Time Limits under the Equal Status Act,2000.
The issue at the centre of the Complaint took place on the 24th November 2021. This was not contested.
The Complaint was received in the WRC on the 5th December 2022 an elapsed period of some 1 year and 11 days.
Section 21, subsection (6) of the Equal Status Act ,2000, provides as follows.
6) (a) Subject to subsections (3)(a)(ii) and (7), a claim for redress in respect of prohibited conduct may not be referred under this section after the end of the period of 6 months from the date of the occurrence of the prohibited conduct to which the case relates or, as the case may be, the date of its most recent occurrence.
(b) On application by a Complainant the Director of the Workplace Relations Commissionor, as the case may be, the Circuit Courtmay, for reasonable cause, direct that in relation to the Complainant paragraph (a) shall have effect as if for the reference to a period of 6 months there were substituted a reference to such period not exceeding 12 months as is specified in the direction; and, where such a direction is given, this Part shall have effect accordingly.
(7) Where a delay by a Complainant in referring a case under this Act is due to any misrepresentation by the Respondent, subsection (6)(a) shall apply as if the references to the date of occurrence of prohibited conduct were references to the date on which the misrepresentation came to the Complainant’s notice.
Highlight by Adjudication Officer.
Accordingly, the Complaint is Out Of Time and cannot proceed.
Decision:
CA: - 00054058-001
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Section 25 of the Equal Status Acts, 2000 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 27 of that Act.
Under Section 21 (6) of the Equal Status Act, 2000 the complaint is out of time and cannot proceed.
Dated: 25th September 2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee
Key Words:
Sexual Harassment, Gender , Age Discrimination. Time Limits |