The Labour Court affirmed the rejection of John Healy’s penalisation complaint and disallowed his appeal against the Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Commissioner. The determination was signed on 6 February 2013.
Healy said his redeployment from the Traffic Corps followed health and safety concerns he raised about using a hand-held alcolyser to test motorists’ breath. The respondents said management reassigned him to duties that did not involve breath testing to accommodate those concerns.
The Court noted that Healy continued to refuse duties involving the device after the Chief Medical Officer advised that reasonable precautions could control the risk. It found the Chief Superintendent redeployed him to accommodate Healy’s concerns, rather than to penalise him. Healy remained stationed in Letterkenny after moving to normal policing duties.