The Labour Court rejected the Health Service Executive North West’s application to dismiss Patricia Cullen Killoran’s appeal, ruling on 28 July 2017 that the appeal would proceed. The preliminary decision concerned allegations of discrimination, harassment and victimisation on disability and family-status grounds.
The HSE applied under section 77A of the Employment Equality Acts to have the case dismissed as misconceived or trivial. The Court said its power under that section was limited to affirming or quashing a decision dismissing a claim under the same section. No such decision had been made, so it could not grant the application.
The family-status complaint elements had been withdrawn earlier. The underlying appeal against the Adjudication Officer’s decision remained to be heard; its merits were not decided in this determination.