An office worker hit by “long Covid” whose bosses ignored their own medical adviser and refused to let her come back to work part-time has been awarded €30,000 in compensation after winning a second equality claim against her employer.
Pobal, the State-backed community development body, is now subject to compensation orders for more than €40,000 for disability discrimination against the worker, Carla Gahan, its employee since 2014.
Ms Gahan brought her employer to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for a second time, alleging breaches of the Employment Equality Act 1998 – having already won over €10,000 in an earlier complaint.
Lawyers for Ms Gahan, who started work as a support officer in Pobal’s finance department in 2014, submitted that she had a number of absences from work due to illness and pregnancy in the years before the Covid-19 pandemic.
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She was accommodated from summer 2018 onward with part-time work on the basis of medical advice, the tribunal was told. Pobal said lateness had become an issue under those temporary part-time work arrangements in 2018 and 2019.
Ms Gahan was hospitalised with pneumonia for six days in March 2020, and returned to work remotely due to the impact of the pandemic.
Ms Gahan had been late to work 29 times between January and March that year and got a warning for “excessive absenteeism and lateness” in June, the tribunal heard.
She started working from home after that but contracted Covid-19 in January 2021, and was hospitalised again. She remained out on sick leave after that, the tribunal heard.
Ms Gahan’s barrister submitted that the complainant had been first diagnosed as suffering from “long Covid” in January 2021 and presented medical letters in which the condition was noted.
Starting in September 2021, the occupational health practitioner to whom Ms Gahan was referred by Pobal – Dr John McDermott – began recommending a “phased” return to work on part-time hours, the tribunal noted.
However, representatives of Pobal’s HR department took the position that the only option was to go straight back to full-time hours. This remained her employer’s position until July 2023, the WRC heard.
In Wednesday’s decision, adjudication officer Jim Dolan wrote that Pobal’s own occupational health adviser “consistently” stated Ms Gahan was fit to work reduced hours and did not state she was not fit for work.
“It would appear that the advice from the respondent’s occupational health specialist has, to a very great extent, been ignored by the respondent,” he said.
He concluded that the new disability discrimination complaint was “well founded”, and awarded Ms Gahan €30,000. The total compensation awarded to Ms Gahan across the two equality claims was €40,638.84.
Ms Gahan was represented by Maurice Osborne, appearing instructed by Neil Deery of Hennessy and Perozzi Solicitors. The Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (Ibec) represented Pobal.
