The Workplace Relations Commission found both complaints by agency nurse Gerard Foy against the Health Service Executive were not well founded. The decision was dated 17 April 2024.
Foy said he lost shifts and missed out on permanent nursing posts after reporting a colleague’s conduct towards a resident. The HSE said it supported the resident, addressed the incident through its procedures and denied penalising him. It said fewer agency shifts were needed once permanent staff were available.
The WRC accepted that Foy’s report qualified as a protected disclosure and a protected act. But it found no link between the report and his unsuccessful job application or reduced shifts, and said he had not provided enough detail about alleged refusals of shifts in other houses. The complaints concerned alleged retaliation under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.