The Workplace Relations Commission rejected Keith Cassidy’s complaint that the Board Of Management, Clonkeen College penalised him for raising workplace health and safety concerns. The decision was dated 10 November 2022.
Cassidy said the school withdrew recognition of him as a safety representative and began disciplinary proceedings in retaliation for his safety concerns, including his promotion of a workplace wellbeing programme. The Board disputed that he had been properly selected as a safety representative and said its requests for information and disciplinary action were legitimate management steps.
The WRC found that the selection process was technically invalid, but that Cassidy could still raise safety concerns as an ordinary employee. It found no evidence that a penalty had been imposed and no direct causal link between his safety activities and the disciplinary action. The complaint was not well founded and did not succeed.