Brendan Ogle has alleged that the former chairman of trade union Unite "defamed" him in a speech to a delegate conference in Ireland 18 months ago by claiming "lies were being told" about the union on social media.
It was after Mr Ogle's wife, Mandy La Combre, herself a former Unite branch chair, wrote a Facebook post which set out her views on how her husband had been treated on his return to work from treatment for a "very aggressive" cancer – remarks that were picked up in the Irish and British press, the Workplace Relations Commission was told today.
Mr Ogle was continuing his evidence-in-chief today on the second day of a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) hearing into his complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 against Unite.
He said he was still "trying to figure out" what his role in the organisation was going to be at the time of a union conference for the Irish section in Malahide in September 2022, when he said Unite's former chairman Tony Woodhouse appeared in lieu of Sharon Graham, the general secretary.
Mr Ogle says he ran into Mr Woodhouse, whom he said he had been "trying to contact" about his situation at work.
During his speech to the conference, Mr Woodhouse referred to "the lies that were being told" about Unite on social media.
"[He] didn’t refer to me by name but referred to 'officers returning from sick leave are always treated in the most perfect manner," Mr Ogle said.
"He didn’t name the case, didn’t name me specifically, he made a number of other comments; and said he had 'seen a file; there was accommodation being provided, and he wasn’t going to preside over the union being castigated or criticised in the way it had been’," Mr Ogle said.
"I was sitting still, listening, trying not to portray any emotion. I was shocked, annoyed, upset… this was my colleague, my friend, who without any conversation with me at all, made these comments in a very public forum," he said.
He said that when he went to a November 2022 job interview for in London he objected to Mr Woodhouse chairing an interview panel – and wrote in March 2023 to the union’s executive stating that chairman had "targeted - and following advice I can state defamed me - at the biennial conference".
The heard Mr Ogle subsequently issued defamation proceedings against Mr Woodhouse.
Mark Harty SC, appearing for the trade union with Barra Faughnan BL instructed by Dentons Solicitors, opened his cross-examination of the complainant this afternoon.
Mr Harty put it to the complainant that his "differences" with Mr Woodhouse followed an article in the ‘Irish Examiner’ quoting a Facebook post by his wife, Mandy La Combre, who was herself a former Unite branch chair.
"Were you contacted by the media in relation to the Facebook post?" Mr Harty asked.
"Me? No," Mr Ogle said.
"Was your wife?" counsel asked.
"I don’t know – you can call her as a witness if you like," Mr Ogle replied, adding later that he would instruct his lawyers to consent to such a move.
"I woke up one weekday morning, she said to me: ‘I put a post up on Facebook about the situation.’ She didn’t ask me beforehand, we didn’t discuss it. When I woke up, it was up," he said.
"Of course I looked at it, read it, I would characterise it as a genuine expression by her, as my wife, about how she was feeling about my situation. I would also say that it was, whatever about her feelings, based on my experience, it wasn’t unfactual in terms of what was happening," he said.
When Mr Harty pressed for more details, Mr Ogle said: "I’m sure you’d find it very interesting, but the conversation that followed was between me and my wife," he said.
"Did you ask her to take it down?" he said.
"No, it was her Facebook post," Mr Ogle said.
"Did it occur to you that it might be a bad idea to have that up there?" Mr Harty said.
"It occurred to me it had the potential to change certain things. I will offer you this: I didn’t know about it and I didn’t know what would come from it, but I’ve a lot of respect for my wife. I saw in her post the love and care she has had for me in nursing me through my cancer, and that overshadowed everything else," Mr Ogle said.
"What about when you saw it in the newspaper?" Mr Harty said.
"I didn’t have a lot of time to consider it," Mr Ogle said, stating that the next development was a phone call from his line manager, the union’s then-regional officer for Ireland, Jackie Pollock, seeking a meeting.
"It’s certainly what led to Tony’s address to the conference," he added.
Asked whether he thought relationships with people in the trade union "might be damaged" by the subsequent newspaper coverage, Mr Ogle said: "Yes."
Asked what he had done to "ameliorate" the situation Mr Ogle said he had taken steps "every day" to ameliorate his position in the Union. Pressed further for what he had done specifically to ameliorate the newspaper coverage and social media commentary, Mr Ogle referred the meeting sought by Mr Pollock.
Mr Ogle said it was a "mystery" to him that the trade union had not contacted his wife directly via union channels at a time she was chairing a union branch.
"They instead used it to implicate me in some way," he said.
Mr Ogle has said a new senior appointee in the Dublin office, Tom Fitzgerald, had informed him that the union’s general secretary Sharon Graham had asked him to draw up a new strategy for Ireland.
Mr Harty put it to Mr Ogle today: "Your evidence is that he was told to get you out of Unite, and put it all on a whiteboard, like a Bond villain."
"For the tenth time, Tom Fitzgerald told me he’d been told to draw up a new strategic plan for Ireland and I wasn’t to be in it," Mr Ogle said.
There were tense exchanges before lunchtime, when Mr Harty, took issue with Mr Ogle’s barrister, Mary-Paula Guinness BL, putting sections of internal correspondence to Mr Ogle in "long speeches" -- and said the union was "anxious" to start cross-examining Mr Ogle so that it could be concluded by tomorrow evening.
"I’ve no difficulty with this evidence being read out [but] Ms Guinness is attempting to ensure Mr Ogle is not cross-examined," Mr Harty said.
"I’m objecting now, I’m formally objecting, I want a ruling," Ms Guinness said.
"What ruling?" Mr Harty said.
"I think Mr Harty should be asked to behave more professionally," Ms Guinness said.
There were two calls of "hear hear" from the public seating area.
"I ask that we rise; I won’t accept that from here, or here," said Mr Harty, referring to both the complainant’s legal team and the public.
Adjudicator Elizabeth Spelman rose for around 20 minutes and conferred with the legal teams, reopening the hearing afterwards later to state: "I want to address a matter which arose immediately before we took abreak. A number of people who said "hear hear" or cheered… I will not accept any comments or any statements like that in these proceedings.
"This is a very personal matter for [Mr Ogle]. Emotiuons are are running high. I don’t need any input form anyone else. If that happens again, I will ask you to leave the room, and you will not be permitted back in. Is everyone clear on that?" Ms Spelman said.
The case has been adjourned overnight. Mr Ogle has been warned not to discuss his evidence with anyone, as he will be cross-examined when the hearing resumes.
"I will have a lonely night watching football, and enjoy it," Mr Ogle said.
"You can discuss football," Mr Harty said.
