ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00052149
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Lisa Murray | A & T Drain Services Limited trading as Drain Doctor |
Representatives |
| David O’Riordan of Sherwin O'Riordan |
Complaint(s):
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-00063779-001 | 28/05/2024 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 10/09/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: David James Murphy
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 - 2015, following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) 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.
Background:
The Complainant worked for the Respondent from the 1st of May 2023 until the 18th of January 2024.
On the 28th of May 2024 she submitted a complaint to the WRC alleging that she had been discriminated against due to disability.
A hearing was held on the 10th of September 2024 which the Complainant did not attend. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant did not attend the hearing. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent made detailed written submissions and attended the hearing with a number of witnesses intending to defend the claim in full. They submit that the Complainant was hired as maternity leave cover which ended in the normal course in January 2024. They were unaware that she suffered from any disability. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Hearing notifications issued to both parties on the 10th of July 2024. The Complainant was represented by a firm of solicitors at that time and a hearing notification was sent to their offices. That firm subsequently came off record for the Complainant by way of email on the 14th of August 2024. On the 10th of September the Respondent attended the hearing but the Complainant did not. I contacted the firm of solicitors who formerly represented the Complainant and they confirmed that they had put her on notice of the hearing before coming off record. I adjourned that hearing in case some unforeseen incident had prevented the Complainant attending that morning. This decision was drafted 10 days after the hearing and in that time the Complainant has not been in touch with the WRC. In the circumstances the complaint must fail. |
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 find that the complaint is not well founded. |
Dated: 23-09-2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: David James Murphy
Key Words:
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