The Workplace Relations Commission rejected social care worker Georgina O'Driscoll’s discrimination complaint against Daffodil Care Services Unlimited Company, finding it was not well founded. Adjudication officer Catherine Byrne dated the decision 5 June 2024.
O'Driscoll said the employer’s investigation into an allegation that she and a colleague had sex during an overnight shift involved intrusive, humiliating questions and discrimination on gender, sexual-orientation and family-status grounds. The employer said the questions were needed to investigate the report. The allegation of sexual activity at work was not upheld in the employer’s disciplinary process.
Byrne found the questions necessary and reasonable and said the evidence did not establish discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment or victimisation. She also found no basis to conclude that O'Driscoll’s unpaid suspension was because she was heterosexual, while accepting it was disproportionate and unfair. She was later reimbursed for wages withheld during the suspension. A separate complaint was withdrawn after the parties confirmed the correct respondent.