ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00057407
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Tyrone Mills | Chew Bay Limited |
Representatives | Did not attend the hearing | Beauchamps Solicitors |
Complaints:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 12 of the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973 | CA-00069735-002 | 04/03/2025 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 | CA-00069735-003 | 04/03/2025 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994. | CA-00069735-004 | 04/03/2025 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 28/07/2025
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
In accordance with section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 – 2015 and section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, these complaints were assigned to me by the Director General. A hearing was arranged for July 28th 2025 for the parties to present evidence in respect of the complaints. The respondent, Chew Bay Limited, trading as Joule Ireland, was represented by Mr Patrick Watters of Beauchamps Solicitors. Mr Watters was accompanied by the company’s HR manager, Ms Eileen Quill and the technical manager, Mr Martin Folan. Mr Conor Grogan of Beauchamps Solicitors also attended the hearing.
The complainant, Mr Tyrone Mills, did not attend the hearing. On June 9th 2025, when he was notified of the date of the hearing, Mr Mills requested permission to attend remotely. This was facilitated and arrangements were made for him to attend a “hybrid” hearing on Monday July 28th 2025 at 9.30am. On Friday, July 25th at 6.54am, Mr Mills wrote to the WRC and stated that he would not attend the hearing because he would be travelling at the same time. The person dealing with this correspondence informed him that the hearing would proceed as scheduled and that he could raise his concerns with the adjudication officer when the hearing opened. By 9.45am on the day of the hearing, Mr Mills had not logged in and he submitted no further correspondence to explain his decision not to attend.
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
CA-00069735-002 and CA-00069735-004 In the circumstances in which the complainant did not attend the hearing and, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary having been presented, I must conclude that these complaints are not well-founded and I decide accordingly. |
Decision:
Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 82 of the Act.
CA-00069735-003 In accordance with Section 79 of the Employment Equality Act, I am obliged to hold a hearing. I am satisfied that the complainant was notified of the arrangements for the hearing on July 28th 2025, and I find that his failure to attend was unreasonable. In these circumstances, any obligation to pursue an investigation in accordance with section 79 of the Act has ceased. As the complainant did not attend the hearing to present evidence in support of his allegations of discrimination, I conclude the investigation and find against him. |
Dated: 06-08-2025
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Complainant did not attend the hearing |