Courts / Dublin / Report

Mater must pay €10k to worker who said he was wrongly accused of abusing patient

Summary

Paul Agbons, a 25-year veteran of the Mater Hospital in Dublin, has secured €10,000 in compensation for racial discrimination after being wrongly accused of sexually interfering with a patient. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that a manager, FH, made an unconscious bias-based decision to suspend Agbons based on his race and nationality, despite no evidence linking him to the allegations. Agbons, a black Irish citizen, was suspended for six days before the hospital concluded he had no case to answer. The WRC adjudicator noted that the manager's actions had a clear racial overtone and ruled that the suspension was direct discrimination. The compensation was awarded considering the short duration of the suspension and the hospital's need to balance two difficult situations.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Mater must pay €10k to worker who said he was wrongly accused of abusing patient. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

• 2026-08-27 Publication

Why: The suspension was "direct discrimination", Mr Murray said, arguing his client was "treated unfairly and targeted because of his race and nationality". CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Charge Or Pretrial

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Read the original CNI report