Employer wins appeal against Ann Doherty’s €45,000 discrimination award

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

The Labour Court has overturned a €45,000 award to Ann Doherty after her employer, St John of God Community Services, appealed a finding that it had discriminated against her. The proceedings were reported on 20 March 2023.

Deputy Chairman Alan Haugh found that the employer had not discriminated against Ms Doherty on the grounds of family status by declining to allow her to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. She was a parent and pregnant with her second child at the time.

The Workplace Relations Commission had previously found in Ms Doherty’s favour. Its adjudication officer, Kevin Baneham, found she had not been facilitated to work from home when colleagues without childcare responsibilities or who were not pregnant had been.

Mr Haugh said a key issue was Ms Doherty’s decision, on her GP’s advice, to begin certified sick leave from the date her pregnancy was confirmed in February 2020. Separately, he said she told the court she went on sick leave from 24 March 2020 because she could not afford unpaid leave and did not consider residential work appropriate during her pregnancy.

Mr Haugh said the employer’s witnesses consistently gave evidence that her medically certified absence was why she was not offered remote work when it began to be rolled out around May 2020. On behalf of the three-member court, he said the adjudication officer’s decision was set aside and the appeal succeeded.