The Workplace Relations Commission found Gerard Crawley’s penalisation complaint against Dundalk Institute of Technology not well founded in a decision dated 23 February 2022.
Crawley said disciplinary proceedings, continued suspension and restrictions on access to grievance procedures and work documents followed his disclosures about DKIT’s accounts. He alleged that a Comptroller and Auditor General audit identified €812,000 in income from before 2016 that had not been reported.
DKIT said the disciplinary process related to a report about Crawley’s external work. The adjudication officer found his December 2018 email did not disclose information that could indicate relevant wrongdoing. Given his accounting expertise and an earlier independent investigation that found no wrongdoing, the officer found he could not reasonably have believed relevant wrongdoing was likely. The complaint of penalisation therefore did not arise.
The officer also found the disciplinary proceedings had been explained in correspondence and that Crawley contributed to delays in concluding them.