LCR22877

Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No's: ADJ-00036365 (CA-00034771-003)


BACKGROUND:
The Worker appealed the Recommendation of the Adjudication Officer to the Labour Court in accordance with Section 13(9) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969. A Labour Court hearing took place on 16th November 2023. The
following is the Decision of the Court:

DECISION:

This appeal was scheduled for hearing on 16 November 2023 at 10.00 in Dublin. The Complainant contacted the Labour Court by email at 07.59 on the day of the hearing. The email read as follows: “I cannot make it to To (sic) the court this morning. Is there any way you could give me a call? And we can do it over the phone. Is there anybody that can say my statement for me? Can you get some monkey to give me a call [phone number details inserted] I'm not very good after having a panic attack”.  

At 09.43 he emailed again as follows: “Hi, I'm requesting a postponement. I had a panic attack today on the way. It is a lot of pressure to represent yourself on the day”.  

No medical evidence was submitted to confirm the Complainant’s medical fitness or otherwise to attend.  

At the hearing, the Respondent was asked if it consented to the application made to postpone the hearing. The Respondent did not consent, and objected to the granting of a postponement on the grounds the appeal was scheduled for hearing that day and was ready and prepared to proceed. It further submitted that a Complainant must show up to progress an appeal, and the Complainant in this case had a pattern of behaviour and a history of cancelling meetings.  It is disputed that the Complainant suffers from any medical condition. There is no medical evidence to support his application. The Complainant is currently active on Facebook working as a Psychic Medium.  

The Court adjourned to consider the application to postpone the hearing. The application was refused on the following grounds:  

The Complainant was on notice of the time and date of the hearing. The Court is satisfied that there was an amount of engagement between the Complainant and the Court administration prior to the hearing date to clarify any assistance that he may require at the hearing.  The Complainant had confirmed his attendance. He had also confirmed that he did not require any assistance on the day.   

On review of the file, the Court further notes a pattern of non-engagement by the Complainant in relation to the within and related proceedings, with prolonged delays in lodging his submissions, which led to significant delays in the scheduling of the within hearing.  

Having regard to the circumstances of this case, the Court is of the view that the Complainant did not provide sufficient and sufficiently evidenced reasoning in his application for granting a postponement of the proceedings.  Accordingly, the application to postpone the hearing was refused.  

As the Complainant did not attend the Court hearing to move the appeal, his appeal must fail.  

Decision  

The decision of the Adjudication Officer is upheld.  

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Katie Connolly
SOC	______________________
4 December 2023	Deputy Chairman