The Workplace Relations Commission found Andrea Comerford’s constructive dismissal complaint against Waterford Wexford Education Training Board not well founded. The WRC decision, dated 10 August 2023, said she resigned voluntarily and was not forced to leave by the school Principal’s conduct.
Comerford said the Principal’s treatment of her and other special needs assistants had made her working conditions intolerable. The Board disputed her allegations. The adjudication officer found many of the issues concerned wider disputes about assistants’ duties and hours, and said the Principal had managed staff robustly. She also found no evidence that Comerford had submitted a formal grievance before resigning. In a constructive dismissal claim, an employee must show that the employer’s conduct made it reasonable to resign.
A separate complaint under the Employment Equality Acts was out of time. Comerford cited ill health and said she had misunderstood that she needed to file a separate complaint, but the officer found she had not provided evidence establishing reasonable cause to extend the filing deadline. The merits of that complaint were not decided.