The Workplace Relations Commission rejected Tracy McGann’s claims of constructive discriminatory dismissal, gender discrimination and victimisation against Ers Genomics Limited. Adjudication Officer Michael MacNamee issued the decision dated 20 March 2024.
McGann, the company’s former Head of Finance, said she was excluded from board meetings, received smaller pay increases than male colleagues and was later offered a more junior role after asking to return to part-time work. She said she resigned after being told to look for another job and after the company failed to resolve a grievance raised by her solicitor. The company said it needed a full-time finance professional with broader international experience and that McGann could apply for the role or work part-time in a support position.
The officer found that McGann resigned without giving the company a reasonable opportunity to address her grievance, so her constructive dismissal claim failed. He found that the evidence did not establish gender discrimination or victimisation, including in the handling of her part-time request. In a constructive dismissal claim, an employee who resigns must show that the employer’s conduct justified leaving; here, the officer did not need to decide the underlying discrimination grounds for that claim.