AIB wins mortgage adviser’s constructive dismissal case

The Workplace Relations Commission found Nadine Scott’s constructive dismissal complaint against AIB Bank not well founded. The decision was dated 5 October 2022. Scott had worked for AIB since 1999 and was a mortgage adviser in Drogheda when she went on sick leave with anxiety in January 2019. She said AIB’s handling of her return to work and the prospect of disciplinary action left her no option but to resign. AIB said it wanted her to return and that she had not been constructively dismissed. The adjudication officer found no breach of contract or conduct so unfair and unreasonable that Scott was compelled to resign. AIB was entitled to rely on its occupational health consultant’s opinion in the absence of robust contradictory medical evidence. The officer also found that Scott had been offered reduced hours for a phased return and did not take up an offer to meet her manager. Stopping her sick pay when she did not return on 14 August 2019 was not a breach of contract.