EDA2618

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No's: ADJ-00037340 (CA-00048625-001)

BACKGROUND:

The Worker appealed the decision of the WRC Adjudication Officer under Section 83 (1), Employment Equality Acts, 1998 to 2015 on 31 May 2023. Labour Court hearings took place on 07 April 2026.

The following is the Determination of the Court:

DETERMINATION:

This is an appeal by Ms Siobhan Mc Nally (the Complainant) from decision ADJ-00037340 CA-00048625-001 of an Adjudication Officer, under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015 in respect of her complaint against her employer Rotunda Hospital (the Respondent).  The Court heard the appeal in Dublin on 7 April 2026, along with six other appeals.

The Adjudication Officer dismissed the claim on the basis that it was outside the statutory time limits.  The complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 14 February 2022 some thirty-three months after her employment with the Respondent had terminated on 20th May 2019 as previously found by the Labour Court in EDA2148 (13 December 2021 and 4 July 2022) and LCR22612 (10th June 2022).

Discussion

The Complainant made a submission and was afforded the opportunity to read same to the Court. The Representative for the Employer read their submission, submitting that the complaint was outside of the statutory time limits and should be dismissed. They noted that the Complainant had 110 cases before the WRC and 77 before the Labour Court.

4 The relevant Law

The Workplace Relations Act 2015 at section 6 states:

(6) Subject to subsection (8), an adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates.

(8) An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6) or (7) (but not later than 6 months after such expiration), as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause.

Decisions

The Complaint was lodged outside of the statutory time limits the Court therefore has no jurisdiction to hear it. Labour Court decisions EDA2148 (13 December 2021 and 4 July 2022) and LCR22612 (10th June 2022), held that the Complainant’s employment with the Respondent had terminated on 20 May 2019. These decisions were not appealed to the High court and therefore still stand.

Determination

The Decision of the Adjudication Officer is upheld

The Court so determines.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Louise O'Donnell
AL	______________________
11/05/2026	Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Decision should be addressed to Ms Amy Leonard, Court Secretary.