The Labour Court has sent Ciara Mulrooney’s discrimination and victimisation complaint against Elavon Financial Services Limited back to the Workplace Relations Commission for a full investigation. The determination was signed on 21 March 2018.
Mulrooney alleged that Elavon discriminated against her on gender and family status grounds after she returned from maternity leave in November 2012, and that it victimised her. She said her responsibilities had been reduced and her former seniority was not restored. Elavon argued that the complaint concerned events after her return from leave and that later correspondence did not refer to discrimination or victimisation under the Employment Equality Act.
An Adjudication Officer had found that the complaint was outside the time limit and declined jurisdiction, concluding that no prohibited act had been shown within the relevant period. The Labour Court said the substantive allegations and the time-limit question were intertwined, and remitted the case to the WRC for a full investigation under section 84(4) of the Act. The merits were not decided.