The Labour Court dismissed Professor Robert Galavan’s appeal against Maynooth University, finding his 2014 concerns about academic governance and lecture overcrowding did not qualify as protected disclosures. The determination was dated 29 August 2022.
Galavan said he raised concerns about continuous assessment, student appeals and health and safety, and that the University penalised him through an investigation and his secondment to the Kennedy Institute. The University denied that his concerns were protected disclosures and said the secondment followed an independent investigation into serious interpersonal difficulties.
The Court found no evidence that Galavan’s actions between May and October 2014 were aimed at highlighting alleged wrongdoing. It noted that he raised his concerns with his line manager and colleagues but did not escalate the continuous assessment issue to the Registrar or Academic Council. The Court said a worker need not use the Act’s terminology, but found that the requirements for making a protected disclosure were not met. It also found that the secondment followed the investigation’s findings about relations in the School of Business, with no causal link established between Galavan’s concerns and the secondment.