The Labour Court recommended that Cork Arts Job Initiative Ltd appoint an independent third party to investigate a worker’s bullying and harassment complaint. The recommendation was signed on 27 February 2003.
The worker, represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, said the employer had not properly investigated the complaint. The company rejected the allegations and did not attend the hearing, but sent a letter saying it had investigated them and found them groundless.
The Court was not satisfied that the employer had completed a proper investigation or interviewed the worker and given him a chance to respond to others’ accounts. It also noted that the organisation appeared to lack a policy for complaints of this kind. The recommendation does not decide whether the worker was bullied or harassed. If the parties do not accept it, the Court may reconvene to hear submissions on the complaint.