The Labour Court dismissed Louise Whelan’s appeal on 30 August 2019, finding the discrimination complaint was brought outside the time limit and was not well founded; the merits were not decided.
Whelan, a Grade IV officer in the Human Resources Department at Children’s Health Ireland At Crumlin, said she was not expressly informed of five vacancies advertised while she was away from work between March 2017 and April 2018, including maternity leave. She alleged gender discrimination. The Adjudication Officer had found the complaint not well founded.
The Court found no alleged discriminatory act fell within the six-month period before she referred the complaint. It rejected her request for more time, noting she had discussed the vacancies with her line manager on 10 May 2018. The Court said it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal and varied the earlier decision; it made no finding on the discrimination claim itself.