The Workplace Relations Commission found that Elaine Moore was unfairly dismissed by Ballymun Initiative For Third Level Education Bite and ordered the charity to pay her €13,905 in compensation. The decision was dated 17 January 2023.
Moore had worked as the charity’s programme director since 4 December 2017. She said she had to resign after raising Covid safety concerns, because she was being required to return to the school workplace before a safety plan was in place. The charity said it had consulted her, offered health and safety support and was developing a Covid response plan; it considered her resignation premature.
The adjudication officer found there had been no real evidence of action on Moore’s safety concerns between August and early October 2020. The charity required her to return full time from 7 December without offering a phased return or waiting for its safety plan to be assessed. The plan was unfinished, and the identified risks had not been adequately addressed. The officer concluded that Moore had been constructively dismissed, meaning the employer’s conduct left her with no real alternative but to resign.
A second unfair dismissal complaint was confirmed as a duplicate and received no separate decision. Moore withdrew a third complaint after the hearing.