The Labour Court upheld a €25,000 award to a nurse after the HSE appealed a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation. The Court dated its decision 19 May 2010.
The nurse, represented by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, said a clerical post had been offered as a rehabilitation trial and that she should have remained on the Injury at Work scheme. The HSE said she had accepted permanent redeployment to a lower-paid position, so the clerical sick pay scheme applied.
The Court found that the parties had misunderstood whether the redeployment was temporary or final, and that their records were too imprecise to establish its terms. The nurse had been without income from the HSE or the State for almost 12 months while willing and available for suitable work. The Court considered the €25,000 award fair and reasonable and upheld it.