The High Court dismissed an appeal by Patrick O’Brien against a Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal decision that there was no prima facie case of misconduct by solicitor Sheenagh MacCarthy.
In a judgment delivered on 23 June 2014, President of the High Court Kearns said the Tribunal’s decision was “entirely appropriate”. The court considered only two complaints: that Ms MacCarthy wrongfully withheld or failed to provide medical reports for Mr O’Brien’s occupational injury benefit claim, and that she advised him to bring no documents to an oral hearing.
Mr O’Brien said he injured his back at work on 28 February 2001 while throwing stones over a fence during a project jointly carried out by FÁS and Galway County Council. His application for an Occupational Injury Benefit payment was refused in May 2004, and that decision was upheld on review. An appeals officer later held an oral hearing on 7 April 2005. The determining officer refused the appeal, finding that he was not satisfied the accident had taken place.
Mr O’Brien alleged that a report by Dr John Mangan, dated 16 March 2005, was available but was not provided at the hearing. The report described a soft tissue injury to his lumbar spine, noted lumbar spondylosis that Dr Mangan believed pre-dated the accident, and gave an opinion that Mr O’Brien was fit for some light manual work. The only medical document said to have been presented at the hearing was a certificate dated 3 March 2001 stating that Mr O’Brien could not attend work because of muscle pain.
Ms MacCarthy’s position was that the hearing concerned whether an accident had happened, rather than the nature or extent of any injury, so medical evidence was not relevant. She also said she did not attend the hearing. The determining officer’s note made no reference to medical reports, and he concluded that no workplace accident had occurred.
The Tribunal ruled on 25 April 2014 that there was no prima facie case of misconduct for inquiry. Mr O’Brien appealed by notice of motion dated 26 May 2014. The High Court said other matters raised in his affidavit, including concerns about his former employer and witnesses, fell outside the complaints it had to decide. It dismissed the appeal, leaving the Tribunal’s decision in place; it did not make a separate finding on whether the alleged conduct occurred.