The High Court has dismissed N. Hakan Erdogan’s application for leave to seek judicial review of a Workplace Relations Commission decision that his employment discrimination complaint was out of time. The court said his pending appeal to the Labour Court was the appropriate forum for resolving the dispute.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Garrett Simons on 5 July 2021, concerned a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998. The WRC adjudication officer dismissed it in May 2019, finding it had been lodged outside the six-month limit and that Erdogan had provided no evidence of misrepresentation by his former employer, eCOMM Merchant Solutions Ltd. Erdogan appealed to the Labour Court in June 2019 and began judicial review proceedings two months later.
Erdogan alleged that minutes produced by the employer at a separate unfair dismissal hearing on 15 January 2018 were fabricated and that the employer had misrepresented events in its disciplinary process. He argued that he became aware of the alleged misrepresentation at that hearing, so the time limit should run from then. The employer denied the allegations and opposed leave, arguing that the Labour Court appeal offered an adequate alternative remedy.
Justice Simons said the Labour Court appeal was a de novo hearing, with powers to hear evidence on oath and permit cross-examination. The factual dispute about the documents and alleged misconduct could not properly be resolved through judicial review, the judge said, and the Labour Court was better placed to consider it.
The judge also rejected the argument that comments attributed to the WRC adjudication officer established bias. He said no external factor, such as a conflict of interest or prior relationship with a party, had been identified, and the comments described did not support an inference of bias.
The court dismissed the application for leave, bringing the High Court proceedings to an end. It did not determine whether the discrimination complaint was valid or whether the alleged minutes were fabricated. On costs, Justice Simons expressed the provisional view that each party should bear its own costs, citing the early end to the proceedings and Erdogan’s self-representation. Either party could file written submissions within 14 days if seeking a different costs order.