Aoife Cooney’s discrimination complaint dismissed by WRC

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Aoife Cooney’s discrimination complaint against Focus Ireland was dismissed by the Workplace Relations Commission, reported on 27 January 2025.

Cooney alleged she was bullied because she was a single parent while working for the charity. Adjudicator Catherine Byrne found she had not identified an incident or remark suggesting she was treated less favourably because of her parental status.

Byrne said the 2019 publicity photoshoot was outside her jurisdiction. She also concluded that the agency’s research on public donations and its use did not indicate bias in Focus Ireland’s workplace culture.

The adjudicator said robust questioning about an employee’s work was not discrimination, even when the employee was a single parent, and dismissed the complaint.