The Workplace Relations Commission found Valerie O'Reilly was unfairly dismissed by University College Dublin and ordered the university to pay her €18,000 in compensation. The WRC decision was dated 6 February 2023.
O'Reilly resigned in October 2020 after losing trust in her workplace, while the university disputed that she had been unfairly dismissed. The WRC found that a cumulative course of conduct breached the trust and confidence required in the employment relationship.
The decision also noted that the university had offered redundancy terms during discussions in 2020, but a trade union official did not pass the offer on to O'Reilly. The WRC said she would have accepted it, even if her employment had begun in 1995. She started a new job the Monday after her resignation, and the WRC took that into account when setting compensation.