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Woman in Sexual Harrassment Case Awarded €37,000

Posted: June 1st, 2018

A €37,000 payout has been awarded to a woman by the the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) who alleged that she was sexually harassed and had felt pressurised to rub antibiotic cream into her bosses’ back and groin.

The woman, a former food service employee, took a compensation in connection to the the payment of wages, unfair dismissal and sexual harassment actions against her previous employer. The claims were ruled to be valid by the adjudication officer managing the case. The officer also dismissed the findings of an independent investigator, who was contracted by the employer, who had said that there was no proof bullying or harassment previously as the woman had claimed/

The woman told the WRC that she was the victim of an “ongoing bullying and harassment and intolerable working conditions during the course of her employment which had a detrimental effect on her health and well-being”. It was alleged that she worked 25-30 hours a week but was only paid €200 despite this.

Along with this, she told her solicitor that there had been efforts made to bribe her into cancelling the and also that her former co-employees were stopped from speaking out in support of her. She stated that she was diagnosed with a mental health condition, and was on medication for depression while working in the role.

The WRC was advised by a witness that the former employers “deliberately belittled and put down the claimant”, while another witness stated it was “common knowledge that the claimant was on medication for her mental health issues and that the respondent was constantly on her back and that she was often crying”.

The arguments made by the defence rested on the evidence of the investigator that the employer contracted when the woman asked for her P45 in September 2015. Despite concerns regarding the bias of the investigator the woman allowed the review to be conducted carried out.

The WRC adjudicator awarded the complainant in question €17,450 and othe figure for separate claims. In total, she was awarded €37,450 sexual harassment damages.

 

Mattress Delivery Accident Leads to €400,000 Van Driver Compensation Claim

Posted: March 26th, 2018

A van driver is seeking work accident back injury compensation in the High Court as he  says he sustained server injuries when a mattress he was delivering carried him for 12 feet before throwing him back to the ground after it was blown by a gust of wind

Mr Declan Homan, a 54-year-old, van driver, told the High Court that he was delivering the 4 foot 6 inch mattress to an apartment on his last delivery on December 13 2011 when the accident took place. Despite returning to work in the three days immediately the accident, Mr Homan had to leave work due to pain and has not been able to work since then.

Mr Homan, who lives at Island Lodge, Walsh Island, Co Offaly, has taken the compensation action against Etmar Ltd, a company which one of his brother is a director of. The company has offices at Glen Easton Point, Leixlip, Co Kildare.

Kevin was completing deliveries with another one of his brothers in the Sandyford Industrial Estate in Dublin when he dropped from a height of roughly five feet, about twelve feet away from the van.

Mr Homan has also claimed that he was not given the required safety equipment including a safety harness. Due to the injuries that Mr Homan alleges  he sustained he  suffered back pain straight after the accident and constant pain persists which is made worse by any degree of activity.

Etmar Ltd are denying these claims.

Mr Homan told High Court Judge, Mr Justice Kevin Cross that he attended work the following next day and went to a doctor three days after the accident happened to be assessed.

Legal Counsel for Etmar, while questioning Mr Homan, put it to him that the severity of his injuries and the consequences were a “gross exaggeration” to which Mr Homan answered: “I disagree with you.”

Counsel claimed that the mattress incident could not be predicted by his employer as it was caused by a gust of wind and, also, that he (Mr Homan) had not told his superiors that was too windy to do the delivery. Mr Homan answered that he felt there was no point as he would have been told carry on anyway.

The back injury compensation case being heard before Mr Justice Kevin Cross continues.