The WRC found that a worker was not discriminated against on the disability ground in a complaint about his alleged dismissal by a healthcare facility. The decision was dated 9 January 2024. The worker had been employed in the facility’s maintenance department. He said he sought to return to work and that an exit agreement sent to him amounted to dismissal; the facility disputed that he had been dismissed and said his job remained open.
The facility said the worker had not provided the requested evidence that he was fit to return and described its €5,000 compromise offer as a goodwill gesture. The worker’s account was that he had supplied fitness letters and sought a return. The WRC accepted that he had a disability but preferred the facility’s evidence that he had not established efforts to return or shown he was fit to do so.
The adjudication officer found the exit offer was neither discriminatory nor a dismissal, and that the worker had failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. The €5,000 was a proposed goodwill payment by the facility, not an award by the WRC.