Background:

The Complainant was employed by the Respondent, a crane hirer, as a Site Supervisor from 5 May 2022 to the date of his dismissal on 1 August 2022. The Complainant alleged he did not receive a contract of employment at the time of his hiring or any time thereafter. On 30 June 2022 the Complainant suffered a left pelvic fracture while working for the Respondent. He sustained this injury by falling off the back of a crane while working on a contracted job for the Respondent. This injury meant the Complainant could not work, and was eligible for payments from the Construction Workers Sick Pay Trust, which the Complainant applied for and asked the Respondent to complete. The Respondent returned this form to the Complainant, indicating the Complainant’s employment to have ended on 1 August 2022. The Complainant alleged this was a discriminatory dismissal arising from his injury, and that such an act was victimisation for having acquired that injury, and that such an injury was a disability under the Employment Equality Act 1998.

The Respondent was unrepresented at the time of hearing and “stated at the outset that they were saving the legal representation for the ‘next round’ as this ‘was only a hearing whatever that is.’“ They engaged in little legal argument. For example, the Adjudication Officer noted in her decision that there was “little by way of cross-examination of the Complainant by the Respondent apart from a trading of mutual insults across the table accompanied by foul and abusive language and accusations that the Complainant was to blame for the workplace accident all of which was rapidly called to a halt in the interests of the orderly conduct of the hearing. “ The Respondent did not see why they would need to provide a contract to the Complainant, said that they were not aware the Complainant had a disability at the time of their hiring (despite the disability only being acquired during the accident) and that the Complainant was not in adequate contact with the Respondent to facilitate any return to work.

Outcome:

The Adjudication Officer found first that the Respondent had admitted their failure to provide the Complainant a contract of employment, and therefore awarded the maximum compensation available, four weeks’ wages, to the Complainant for this breach. The Adjudication Officer also found that the Complainant had met the threshold of a prima facie case of discrimination, which the Respondent did not adequately rebut. As a result, the Adjudication Officer awarded the Complainant a further €10,000 in respect of all equality complaints made against the Respondent.

Practical Guidance for Employers:

WRC Adjudications are not “only a hearing” – they are serious occasions with authority to award substantial payments to Complainants and a wide discretion to determine such an award in Employment Equality claims to reflect what they believe is “appropriate in the circumstances of the particular case.”

The full case is here:  https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2024/january/adj-00042062.html