The Workplace Relations Commission found it had no jurisdiction to hear Adrian Caulfield’s complaint against The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland also know as Bank of Ireland Group Bank of Ireland. The decision was dated 30 March 2023.
Caulfield alleged disability and civil-status discrimination after the bank refused to open a business account for his limited company in December 2016. He referred the complaint to the WRC in March 2021, more than four years later. The bank argued it was outside the six-month time limit.
Caulfield said he learned in January 2021 that the WRC was the appropriate forum, after first complaining to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. The WRC held that the time limit ran from when the alleged cause of action arose, not when he learned which body could hear the case. The merits were not decided.