Courts / Dublin / Report
Garda who alleged bullying and racial abuse wins illness classification case
Summary
In a High Court decision dated 20 April 2018, Mr Justice Paul Coffey quashed a decision by the Garda Commissioner to reclassify the illness of Garda Deming Gao, a Chinese-born naturalised Irish citizen who had been a Garda since 2008. Gao had gone on sick leave in November 2016 after a verbal attack by a colleague and had complained of bullying, isolation and being branded a rat by other Gardai. His injury was initially classified as an "injury on duty" but was changed to an "ordinary illness" in May 2017, backdated to his sick leave. Gao argued the reclassification was erroneous and that the Commissioner had not provided any reason for the change, which he claimed caused financial hardship. The Commissioner contended that the reclassification was a correction of an error and that the decision could not be made until the bullying investigation was complete.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Garda who alleged bullying and racial abuse wins illness classification case. Procedural stage: trial
When:
- November 2016 Incident
- May 2017 Incident
- 2018-04-20 Publication
Why: Such a failure is contrary to basic fairness, because if permitted it allows a decision maker to revoke a decision and thereby circumvent judicial scrutiny regardless of the consequences for those affected, the judge said. CNI source report
Places mentioned
- High Court
Topics
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