Labour Court rejects John McCormack’s appeal over proposed Protected Disclosures Act claim

The Labour Court rejected John McCormack’s appeal over his penalisation complaint against the National Youth Federation Company Limited Guarantee/Youth Work Ireland. The Court said it could hear only the complaint decided by the Adjudication Officer: a claim under section 20 of the Criminal Justice Act 2011. Its determination was signed on 28 January 2021. The Adjudication Officer had found the complaint not well founded after concluding that McCormack had not disclosed information to An Garda Siochana before his dismissal. The employer said at the WRC hearing that it dismissed him before the end of his probation because he was unsuitable. On appeal, McCormack argued that the Court could consider a claim under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, or that he had given notice of an intention to report wrongdoing. The Court held that he could not replace the complaint made under the 2011 Act with a new claim under the 2014 Act. It had no jurisdiction to hear that proposed claim; its merits were not decided.