Barnardos employment dispute adjourned for legal submissions

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

Barnardos’ application to dismiss former employee Tara Smith’s unfair dismissal complaint was adjourned for legal submissions at the Workplace Relations Commission. Smith disputes her January 2021 redundancy, which she argues was unfair.

Barnardos argued the complaint could be dismissed for failure to pursue it for 12 calendar months and said delays disadvantaged its defence. Smith’s representative disputed responsibility for any delay, saying they relied on the Commission’s advice after her father’s death led to an adjournment in November 2024. The Commission set a new hearing date a year and 12 days later, according to Barnardos’ barrister.