The Workplace Relations Commission has ordered Wexford County Council to pay Patrick O'Connor €10,000 after finding it penalised him for making a workplace health and safety complaint. The decision was dated 18 April 2024.
O'Connor, a light truck driver assigned to the Enniscorthy area, said the Council failed to investigate his complaint and that he was ostracised and lost overtime. The Council accepted that its complaint procedures were not followed and said the appointed investigator's illness prevented an investigation.
The adjudicator found that O'Connor had made a health and safety complaint and that the Council's failure to investigate it was itself penalisation. He also accepted that O'Connor continued to be isolated at work. The overtime issue had been addressed to some degree, but the Council had not provided documentation about any reduction.
Penalisation means detrimental treatment for making a protected workplace safety complaint. The WRC found the complaint well founded and ordered €10,000 compensation.