The Workplace Relations Commission found that Ogheneyoma Ughwubrusi was not discriminated against on grounds of race by Access Nursing Ltd. The decision, dated 2nd November 2022, rejected her complaint about alleged remarks, loss of work and dismissal.
Ughwubrusi said managing director Ryan O’Flaherty asked where she came from and said he preferred to book Irish staff. O’Flaherty denied making those remarks. She also said she was removed from a work roster and later dismissed because of her race. The agency said the dismissal followed serious misconduct involving her attendance at Beaumont Hospital when she was not rostered to work and had been told not to attend.
The adjudicator found that Ughwubrusi had been rostered at other facilities after her removal from the Daughters of Charity facility, so her claim that she received no work for more than two weeks was unfounded. On the dismissal, the adjudicator found no evidence that race was the reason and considered the conduct serious enough to justify dismissal. The adjudicator also did not find the alleged remarks credible in the context of the call, which concerned the hospital incident. The complaint was found not well founded.