Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Worker

A Company

Representatives

Act

Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969

IR - SC - 00004684

09/07/2025

The Worker stated that he was summarily dismissed on 10 July 2024 and was given no reason for the dismissal which he stated was unfair.

The Worker was contacted by his employer on 10 July 2024 and informed that his contract had been terminated at the request of the client. At the time of that call, no date was provided and no reason for termination was given, other than that the client had exercised its discretion. The Worker was told that he had done nothing wrong.

After the Worker referred the matter to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), he received written correspondence setting out the alleged grounds for termination. That correspondence stated that on 10 July 2024, a site manager contacted a representative of his employer to report that very serious sexual harassment complaints had been received and requested that the Worker be removed from the project with immediate effect.

It was further alleged that, following this contact, the site manager stated that a complaint had been made by a female cleaner, who alleged that the Worker and another worker had acted in an intimidating manner and made inappropriate and rude comments towards her.

The Worker strongly disputed these allegations and stated that they were entirely false. He was shocked to read these claims, as he was never notified of any complaint on or around 10 July 2024, was not interviewed, and was not given any opportunity to respond. He stated that no investigation took place, no evidence was presented to him, and no effort was made to verify the allegations or confirm that he was correctly accused.

The Worker queried why the complaint was accepted without verification, why no impartial or senior personnel were engaged to investigate the matter, and why basic procedural fairness was not followed before the decision to terminate his contract was made.

He also highlighted that he had previously worked on the same client site for approximately 18 months, from May 2022 to November 2023, without any complaints, allegations, or disciplinary issues arising during that period. The Worker stated that the manner in which the allegations were handled and the resulting termination caused him significant physical and emotional distress and led to the loss of his employment without due process.

The Employer named on the complaint form did not attend the hearing.

As the Worker accepted that the Employer he listed on the complaint form was the name of the client at whose site he worked was and not that of his employer, I cannot make a recommendation in relation to this complaint.