ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00055811

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Mr Ben McCabe	Sodexo Ireland Limited

Representatives

The Complainant did not attend and was not represented at hearing.

Ms Sinead Cockram The HR Suite

Complaint:

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977	CA-00067667-001	24/11/2024

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 09/10/2025

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Eileen Campbell

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and/or Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 - 2015, following 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. The hearing was conducted in person in Lansdowne House.

While the parties are named in the Decision, I will refer to Mr Ben McCabe as “the Complainant” and to Sodexo Ireland Limited as “the Respondent”.

The Complainant did not attend and was not represented at the hearing. Ms Rhian Riordan HR Business Partner, Ms Alifya Hasta HR Generalist and Ms Lynn Carson Account Manager attended on behalf of the Respondent. The Respondent was represented by Ms Sinead Cockram of The HR Suite.

Having waited a reasonable period of time there was no appearance by or on behalf of the Complainant at hearing on 09/10/2025. I am satisfied that the Complainant was duly notified of the details of the hearing on 30/07/2025 in line with WRC procedures. A postponement had not been sought.

Background:

This matter came before the WRC dated 24/11/2024. The Complainant claims unfair dismissal pursuant to section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977. The aforesaid complaint was referred to me for investigation.

A hearing for that purpose was scheduled to take place initially on 18/07/2025. There was no appearance by or on behalf of the Complainant at hearing on 18/07/2025. I was not satisfied the Complainant was properly on notice of the hearing.

Accordingly, the hearing was rescheduled, and the Complainant’s contact details were verified with him by telephone call from the WRC on 29/07/2025 followed by notification to him of hearing details in respect of hearing scheduled to take place on 09/10/2025.

Having waited a reasonable period of the time on the day, namely 09/10/2025, there was no appearance by or on behalf of the Complainant. I am satisfied the Complainant was duly notified of the details of the hearing. The Complainant did not attend. A postponement had not been sought.

The Complainant has not availed himself of the considerable resources put at his disposal by the Workplace Relations Commission.

Furthermore, the Complainant’s non-appearance at hearing represents a level of discourtesy to the Commission that is unacceptable, and which has also put the Employer to expense that could have been avoided and to the inconvenience of attending at hearing unnecessarily.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

CA-00067667-001

There was no appearance by or on behalf of the Complainant at the adjudication hearing.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

CA-00067667-001

The Respondent attended the hearing together the Respondent representative. In circumstances where the Complainant did not attend there was no requirement for evidence to be presented by the Respondent.

Findings and Conclusions:

CA-00067667-001

There was no appearance by the Complainant at the adjudication hearing. I am satisfied the Complainant was notified in writing of the date, time and place at which the hearing to investigate the complaint would be held. There was no application for a postponement submitted in the weeks or days preceding the hearing.

As of the date of this decision there has been no further communication received from or on behalf of the Complainant.

In these circumstances and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary having been adduced before me, I must conclude that the within complaint is not well-founded and I decide accordingly

Decision:

Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the unfair dismissal claim consisting of a grant of redress in accordance with section 7 of the 1977 Act.

CA-00067667-001

For the reasons set out above, I decide this complaint is not well-founded.

Dated: 21-10-25

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Eileen Campbell

Key Words:

Complainant did not attend;