The recent UK case of Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen [2021] has persuasive power in Ireland and contains a strong lesson for employers, regardless of the jurisdiction in which they operate.

This case before the UK equivalent of our Labour Court concerned an employee who was dismissed for apparent poor performance with less than one year’s continuous service.

After being dismissed, the claimant alleged that he had been subjected to harassment relating to his race by another employee. The respondent investigated the allegations and found that the employee in question had indeed made the racist comments and was ordered to undertake further equality and diversity training.

The claimant brought claims on the basis of harassment, but the respondent sought to