Labour Court rejects Sharon Cummins’s penalisation appeal

The Labour Court rejected Sharon Cummins’s appeal over her penalisation complaint against MSR-FSR Ireland Limited. Dated 18 November 2020, the determination affirmed the Adjudication Officer’s decision. Cummins said she had raised health and safety concerns and was then denied a performance review and affected by changes to her workplace. The company disputed that either the review delay or the redesign of the Hot Fab area amounted to penalisation. The Court accepted that a joint safety email sent on 26 April 2018 was a protected act. It found the review delay was not influenced by that email: the manager needed guidance, and Cummins was on sick leave when reviews took place. The Court also found no penalisation in the redesign, noting that staff had opportunities to comment and other employees were affected by the changes.