The Workplace Relations Commission rejected Jan Dirda’s complaints of racial harassment and discriminatory constructive dismissal against Lily’s Limited trading as Lily O'Brien’s, in a decision dated 7 February 2024.
Dirda said a colleague bullied and assaulted him, used racial insults and that the employer ignored his reports. The company said he had not raised the allegations through its procedures before resigning and that it began an investigation after receiving his resignation letter.
The adjudicator found no prima facie case of racial harassment and said the employer could rely on a legal defence after it investigated and offered Dirda options to return to work. The adjudicator also found he had not used the company’s procedures before resigning and that his decision to leave was unreasonable. The Traveller community ground was not investigated, so the decision did not determine either complaint on that ground.