The WRC awarded €10,000 to a cleaner after finding that a facilities management company harassed him and discriminatorily dismissed him on gender grounds. It also ordered the company to review its harassment policy. The cleaner withdrew his Equal Status Act complaint, while his minimum-notice complaint was not well founded because he had received the required notice.
The cleaner said his supervisor’s conduct worsened after he rejected her advances, and that the company extended his probation before dismissing him the next day. The company said his work and conduct had declined, citing cleaning audits, uniform and an altercation.
The WRC preferred the cleaner’s evidence, finding that his supervisor faulted his work after he rejected her advances and that the company’s audit evidence was unpersuasive. It found an intimidating and hostile environment and concluded that his dismissal was connected to the harassment. Adjudication officer Valerie Murtagh dated the decision 27 May 2024. The award compensated him for the distress and effects of discrimination.