The Hyde & Seek crèche group has appealed a Workplace Relations Commission ruling that it penalised a childcare assistant for making a protected disclosure about the inappropriate behaviour of a colleague.
Jade Byrne Hoey, then aged 19, commenced work in the Hyde & Seek crèche in Glasnevin, Dublin, on 11 April 2019.
However, on 11 June 2019, while carrying a one-year old child, she urged a 26-year-old colleague to calm down, as she was acting aggressively when stacking chairs roughly and behaving in a way that was frightening the children.
"The Complainant submitted that this "drew a crazed response" from Employee 1 who approached her in an extremely aggressive and hostile manner shouting, "don't tell me what to do, don’t tell me what to f**king do, come on outside, I will kill you, don’t be telling me what to do," the WRC ruling stated.
Ms Byrne Hoey had admitted that around the same time, she had a separate altercation with an administration manager in the company when she had raised her voice when demanding a copy of her contract.
The following day she was given an informal warning or "letter of concern" - while the colleague who admitted and apologised for her inappropriate behaviour had not suffered any penalty or reprimand.
The complainant was subsequently deemed medically unfit for work due to anxiety which she claimed was triggered by the incident.
The WRC ruled that Hyde & Seek had discriminated against Ms Byrne Hoey on age grounds, as well as penalising for raising serious health and safety concerns and for making a protected disclosure to the crèche management.
The Adjudication Officer found no real investigation of her health and safety concerns had been carried out - and that Hyde & Seek had failed to apply fair procedures when they summarily dismissed the complainant.
She could find no logical explanation for Hyde & Seek issuing an informal warning to Ms Byrne Hoey "while at the same time ignoring and failing to reprimand Employee 1 who had, by her own admission, twice in the course of 11th June verbally and physically assaulted the complainant."
The Adjudication Officer awarded Ms Byrne Hoey €4,000 for penalisation for giving a protected disclosure, €4,000 for unfair procedures when she was summarily dismissed, €2,000 for penalisation under health and safety legisaltion, €2,000 for discrimination on age grounds, €800 for breaches of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, and €32 for an underpayment of wages.
At today's appeal Ms Byrne Hoey reiterated her claims against Hyde & Seek.
She admitted that she had taken steps to register a potential personal injury claim via the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, but her legal representative confirmed that there are no legal proceedings in being.
Siobhan Davy, who manages Hide & Seek's Glasnevin crèche, rejected claims that the childcare assistant had been treated unfairly.
She insisted the informal warning had been related to the altercation with the administrative manager, and not the incident involving her fellow childcare worker.
She was adamant that Ms Byrne Hoey had not been discriminated against on age grounds, or that her dismissal had been linked to an email which the WRC had found to be a protected disclosure.
Ms Davy insisted that Ms Byrne Hoey had been given a copy of her employment contract to retain - but acknowledged she had not been in the room when this was alleged to have taken place.
Hyde & Seek has hired a computer expert to establish whether the alleged protected disclosure was actually emailed by Ms Byrne Hoey and received by Ms Davy.
A member of the Labour Court, Sylvia Doyle, questioned Ms Davy as to who prepared the "letter of concern", and whether it had been prepared before the meeting to hear Ms Byrne Hoey's version of events.
The appeal will resume on a date yet to be fixed in the coming weeks.
