WRC upholds dismissal of Waterford hospital catering supervisor

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

A tribunal upheld the dismissal of Annette Ryan, a hospital catering supervisor who denied an allegation that she told a colleague, “You’re not Irish, you’re black”. The outcome was reported on 10 June 2025.

Ryan was summarily dismissed from her job at University Hospital Waterford in September 2023 following findings of gross misconduct. Four junior catering staff had made formal complaints against her in July 2023, and she was suspended the following month. Her former employer was Campbell Catering Ltd, trading as Aramark.

At a hearing of her unfair dismissal claim, Ryan said the colleague had made up the alleged remark. She said she had worked with people from several countries and was not racist. She also claimed site manager Marcin Skrzypczak was behind the allegations and had intimidated her when suspending her.

Skrzypczak denied her account of the suspension and said he had not fed anything to workers to bring forward. Aramark representative Brian Joyce said the staff had alleged bullying, intimidation, harassment and discrimination, and denied that the process was flawed. He said a senior manager had upheld Ryan’s dismissal on appeal in December 2023.