Royal Irish Yacht Club defeats Gerard Ward’s age discrimination and dismissal complaint

The Workplace Relations Commission found Gerard Ward’s age discrimination, harassment, victimisation and constructive discriminatory dismissal complaint against the Royal Irish Yacht Club was not well founded. The decision was dated 4 December 2024. Ward said a manager followed him to a pub after he left work and confronted him, leading him to resign. The Yacht Club denied discriminatory treatment and said managers searched for Ward because they were concerned for his safety and welfare. The adjudicator found Ward had not connected the treatment to his age and had not shown harassment related to age. His victimisation complaint failed because he had not taken a protected action before making the complaint. The constructive dismissal complaint failed because he had not shown a contractual breach or that resignation was justified, and he had not used the Yacht Club’s grievance or Dignity at Work procedures before resigning.