This appeal concerned the re-assignment of the plaintiff from the operational and clinical nursing duties specified in her contract of employment to non-operational duties. Although this re-assignment did not result in any loss of remuneration, or loss of reputation or status, the Court in their first judgment found that these considerations were fundamentally irrelevant as there had been a breach of the terms of her contract of employment.

The HSE had stressed that no disciplinary findings against the plaintiff existed and that her re-assignment was only temporary in nature. However, no steps had been made since the re-assignment, on the 6th of July 2015, to restore the plaintiff to her original position.

The Court of Appeal found that the plaintiff's contract of employment appointed her to a very specific post with specific duties to perform - these constituted a fundamental aspect of her contract. Although an interlocutory injunction to prevent the re-assignment had been refused at full hearing, the Court of Appeal found that the judge had erred in his decision and that the plaintiff should have been granted a permanent injunction preventing her re-assignment. The Court of Appeal held that no tangible evidence had been presented to suggest that the reinstatement of the plaintiff to her original post would be impossible or inappropriate. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal re-instated the plaintiff to her original post and duties as they felt that the courts should ensure that an effective, and not simply theoretical, remedy should be available where a clear breach of contract was established.
http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/09859e7a3f34669680256ef3004a27de/1a845dc5ccda0ca780258164002fe505?OpenDocument