The Workplace Relations Commission upheld Robert Hayden’s disability discrimination and workplace safety penalisation complaints against his former employer, Aurivo Consumer Foods Limited, and ordered compensation of €9,101.04 and €6,067.36 respectively. The WRC decision was dated 31 January 2023.
Hayden said a pallet truck injured his leg at work and that he needed advance notice of medical appointments because he relied on his wife for transport. Aurivo said it dismissed him during probation after he repeatedly failed to attend company medical assessments.
The adjudication officer found Hayden’s temporary injury met the statutory definition of disability and that Aurivo had not rebutted his discrimination complaint. The officer also found that Hayden’s report of the workplace incident was an operative consideration in his dismissal, upholding the safety penalisation complaint.
The WRC did not uphold Hayden’s complaints of victimisation, failure to provide reasonable accommodation or harassment. His complaint under the Industrial Relations Acts was withdrawn.