ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00059022

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Joanna Okoniewska	Aran Woollen Mills

Representatives

Jason Murray BL

Leah Moriarty RDJ LLP

Complaints:

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 86 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998	CA-00071724-001	20/05/2025
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 86 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998	CA-00071726-001	20/05/2025
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00073612-001	21/07/2025

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 19/05/2026

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 (as amended) a complaint has been referred to the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission who has in turn deemed it appropriate that the Complaint be investigated with any appropriate and/or interested persons to be provided with an opportunity of being heard. In these circumstances and following a referral by the said Director General, of this matter to the Adjudication services, I can confirm that I am an Adjudicator appointed for this purpose (and/or an Equality Officer so appointed). I confirm that I understand my obligation to make all relevant inquiries into the complaint. I additionally and where appropriate hear the oral evidence of the parties and their witnesses and take account of the evidence tendered in the course of the hearing as well as any written submissions disclosed in advance of the hearing (and opened up in the course of the hearing).

An Adjudication Officer cannot entertain a complaint presented after the expiration of the period of six months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates, or such other date as may be set out in Section 41(6) of the WRC Act of 2015. In limited circumstances, a complaint presented outside the relevant period may be entertained if the failure to present was due to reasonable cause.

In the event that the Complainant is successful it is open to me to make an award of compensation and /or give direction on a course of action which might eliminate such an occurrence in the future (per Section 82 of the 1998 Employment Equality Act).

In addition to the foregoing, the Complainant has brought a further complaint of a contravention of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 which is an Act contained in Schedule 5 of the Workplace Relations Act of 2015 and where such a complaint is presented the Director General is empowered to refer that complaint forward for adjudication by an Adjudication Officer pursuant to Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015. Following the said referral,it is incumbent on the assigned Adjudicator to make all relevant enquiries into the complaint. This will include hearing oral evidence, considering submissions made and receiving other relevant evidence.

Following said referral, I can confirm that I was ready to fulfil my obligation to make all relevant inquiries into the complaint. I have additionally and where appropriate made time to hear the oral evidence of the parties and their witnesses and to take account of any evidence to be tendered during the course of the hearing.

Background:

This hearing was to be conducted remotely as provided for in the Civil Law and Criminal Law (miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 and SI 359/2020 which said instrument designates the Workplace Relations Commission as a body empowered to hold remote hearings pursuant to Section 31 of the Principal Act. The said remote hearing was set up and hosted by an appointed member of the WRC administrative staff. I am satisfied that no party would have been prejudiced by having this hearing conducted remotely. I am also satisfied that I was in a position to fully exercise my function and I made all relevant inquiries in the usual way.

Had evidence been given it would have been in compliance with the Workplace Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2021 which came intoeffecton the 29th of July 2021, and which said legislation accommodates situations where there is the potential for a serious and direct conflict in the evidence between the parties to a complaint. In such circumstances, an oath or an affirmation may be required to be administered to any person giving evidence before me. It is noted that the giving of false statements or evidence is an offence.

The complaints herein were brought to the attention of the WRC by way of workplace relations complaint forms dated 20th May 2025 and 21st July 2025.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant did not attend. I am satisfied that the Complainant was notified of the date, time and venue for this hearing by a letter sent from the WRC - dated the 7th of May 2026 - and emailed to the email address provided by the Complainant on the workplace relations complaint form. The Complainant had specifically agreed to communication by electronic means when filling out his complaint form.

From the Complaint form provided, I have discerned that the Complainant seeks to establish that she was discriminated against by the Respondent in breach of the Employment Equality legislation. There is an additional claim for a payment of wages unlawfully withheld or deducted.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent had full legal representation at this hearing. The Respondent stood ready to defend itself and push back on the allegations made. I note a number of witnesses attended the hearing ready to give evidence on affirmation.

The Respondent rejects that there has been any discrimination and or entitlement to wages.

Findings and Conclusions:

The Complainant did not attend. The Complainant had sent a letter on the day before the hearing requesting an alternative date be provided. The Complainant’s communication read as follows:-

ADJ 00059022

Due to the cirkumstances, I kindly innform you that I will not be able to participate in the meeting on the date you have set due to formal deficiencies. Speccifically, the letter I received from you informing me was missing a signature and contained incorrect information that was not relevant to my case.

I described this in an email to you on 12.05.2026 to the lady OL.I received a procedural document / 118 pages/ on 15.05,2026. I would like to request a translatiion into Polissh of the procedural letter from the representative of the respondent , My Leah Moriarty.

The next issue in the case is that I would like to review your conclusions following the proceedings you conducted at my request regarding complaints agains Aran Woollen Mills.

Due to the circumstances, l request that you set another date .

In light of the foregoing, I advised that the Complainant needed to attend the WRC hearing to make an application of she wanted to seek a postponement. A communication went out to the Complainant stating the following: -

I wish to acknowledge receipt of your correspondence.

I wish to address your letter of today’s date. I note from your statement that the received hearing letter was not signed. While this may have been the case, the material information contained within that hearing letter is not changed by a signature, the hearing date was notified to you in advance of the hearing.

I note your statement that information was erroneously sent to you, which was not relevant to your case. While this is unfortunate and regrettable, it will be followed up using our GDPR policies, however, this is of no consequence to the material facts of your hearing date.

The WRC do not provide translated copies of submissions or other documents; this is the responsibility of parties in the case.

The subject of conclusions of any requested actions as referenced in your letter is a matter which should be addressed to the Adjudication Officer with seisin of the case.

The hearing set for 19/05/2026 at 11am on the remote platform, will proceed as scheduled.

Any issues or concerns may be raised to the Adjudication Officer at the hearing.

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.

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.

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 86 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998

CA-00071724-001 – The Complainant did not attend and did not seek a postponement of the hearing. In circumstances where the Complainant provided no evidence, the Complainant has not made out a case of discrimination and the complaint fails.

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 86 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998

CA-00071726-001 - The Complainant did not attend and did not seek a postponement of the hearing. In circumstances where the Complainant provided no evidence, the Complainant has not made out a case of discrimination and the complaint fails.

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991

CA-00073612-001 – The complaint herein is not well founded in circumstances where the complaint did not attend to give evidence.

Dated: 08/06/2026

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Penelope McGrath

Key Words: