Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Clare Fitzpatrick

AIB Plc

Representatives

Paul Twomey BL

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977

CA-00065695-001

29/08/2024

The complaint was received by the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on 29th August 2024. The complaint form stated that it was in relation to constructive dismissal under the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977.

A hearing was scheduled for 11.30am on Wednesday 26th March 2025 in Lansdowne House, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

At the time the hearing was to commence, it was apparent that there was no attendance by or on behalf of the Complainant. The Respondent was present and ready to proceed with the hearing. I verified that the Complainant was on notice of the date, time and venue of the hearing and waited some time to accommodate late arrival.

The Complainant did not attend the adjudication hearing and was not represented. Notice of the hearing arrangements was sent on 30th January 2025 to the email address provided by the Complainant in the complaint form. This notification was sent by email at 13.17 on 30th January 2025.

The Respondent’s representatives and witnesses were present at the appointed time and ready to proceed with the case.

The hearing was scheduled for 11.30 am on Wednesday 26th March, 2025. At the appointed time, there was no appearance by the Complainant. I satisfied myself that notification of the hearing had been sent to the address provided by the Complainant. I enquired with the case officer if any contact had been received from the Complainant and received notification that there had not been any communication. I phoned the number on the complaint form and it went straight to voicemail. I allowed 20 minutes for any late arrival.

At approximately 11.55 am I notified the Respondent that there was no attendance by the Complainant and the hearing could therefore not proceed.

At 12.05 I received a call from the Complainant but could not hear any sound on the call. I phoned back at 12.06 and spoke to the Complainant who said that she did not receive any notice of the hearing and did not know that it was taking place today. I thanked her for taking my call.

On examination of the case file, I note that an email was sent to the Complainant on 30th January 2025 at 13.17 with 4 attachments. They were:

1.       Letter to Complainant re Date of Hearing (1).pdf

2.       wrc-postponement-application-form.doc

3.       Guidance Note for a Adjudication Hearing.pdf

4.       wrc-postponement-guidelines.pdf

The first attachment listed above contains hearing arrangements on the first page. It states:

“Notification of Hearing

The following are the arrangements for the Hearing of the above case:

*Interpreter arrangements – Important

If you require an interpreter please confirm your requirements, including the requested language, to adjinterpreters@workplacerelations.ie within five days of this Hearing Letter.

The Complainant responded to this email notifying her of the venue, date and time of the hearing. She sent a reply email at 14.11 requesting a copy of her complaint form and, in particular, referred to “these arrangements” for the case.

No application for a postponement or adjournment of the hearing was received by the WRC from the Complainant.

Given that the Complainant responded to the hearing notification email and specifically said “these arrangements”, I cannot be anything but satisfied that she was on notice of the hearing arrangements and did not attend to put forward her complaint.

In the circumstances, and in the absence of direct evidence, I must conclude that the complaint is not well-founded.

As set out above, in all of the circumstances and in the absence of direct evidence, I must conclude that the complainant was not unfairly dismissed and I decide accordingly.  

Non attendance – notice