Labour Court upholds time-limit finding on Margaret Curran's complaint

The Labour Court upheld the finding that Margaret Curran's constructive-dismissal complaint against the Health Service Executive was out of time; the merits were not decided. The determination was dated 2 May 2023. Curran lodged her complaint with the WRC in December 2020, more than five years after she formally ended her employment in June 2015, and appealed the adjudication officer's time-limit decision. She said efforts to resolve the dispute through HSE processes and clarify her employment status explained the delay. The HSE argued the complaint was outside the statutory limit. The Court said it could extend the usual six-month period to 12 months for reasonable cause, but lacked jurisdiction to extend it further. It did not decide whether Curran was an employee because that issue was irrelevant to its jurisdiction decision.