Labour Court varies €5,000 recommendation in Mater hospital bullying dispute

The Labour Court varied a Rights Commissioner’s €5,000 compensation recommendation in a worker’s bullying complaint against Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, in a decision dated 20 April 2015. It recommended that the hospital implement the investigation report’s recommendations in full and arrange mediation or facilitation within eight weeks of the process starting. The worker appealed through INMO, seeking the transfer of the person complained of to a new location. The hospital accepted the investigation findings and recommendations, preferred mediation and said a transfer could disrupt services. The Court noted that both employees were senior and of equal status, and that some recommendations had already been carried out. It replaced the compensation recommendation with the implementation and mediation recommendations.