Former 2FM presenter Chris Greene has resolved and agreed to withdraw claims of whistleblower penalisation and unfair dismissal against RTÉ, having accused the State broadcaster of sacking him after he made allegations about workplace sexual harassment.
The case was set to open at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) this morning but was delayed for almost two-and-a-half hours while the parties and their lawyers conferred.
When the hearing opened, David Byrnes BL, appearing for the complainant instructed by Marc Fitzgibbon of Lavelle Partners, said: “We have managed to reach a compromise in relation to all the claims before the WRC.
“All have been compromised by written agreement. On that basis I’m happy to state my client is withdrawing all complaints, and I’m happy to say he’s withdrawing the protected disclosure element as well,” Mr Byrnes added.
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Asked by adjudicator Breiffni O’Neill whether she had anything to add, RTÉ's barrister, Mairead McKenna SC, said: “No, thank you for your time and your courtesy to all the parties, as always.”
Mr Greene had originally brought claims under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and the Payment of Wages Ac 1991 against Raidió Teilifís Éireann, all of which were contested.
Up to five witnesses had been expected to give evidence in the case, which was called on for two days of hearing this week.
Some limited details of the matters in dispute were made public at a preliminary hearing on November 27th last year.
On that date, Mr Byrnes said his client had gone to 2FM chief Dan Healy with concerns regarding “alleged sexual harassment and impropriety in the workplace”, arguing this had amounted to a protected disclosure.
Mr Byrnes said that Mr Greene was penalised by being marginalised at work prior to dismissal, arguing: “The dismissal is an unfair dismissal in the ordinary sense, and I am also suggesting there is a penalisation element to it as well.”
Mr Byrnes said he had not set out the disclosures in written legal submissions because “the nature of those protected disclosures was such that it was preferable and appropriate for them to be first brought into this room for the protection of my client and other witnesses”.
Ms McKenna, who was instructed in the matter by Ailbhe Moloney of Arthur Cox, said the case laid out by the complainant side was “not clear” and its stance on specifying the disclosures was “grossly unfair”.
“There is nothing in the written submission that says there’s another protected disclosure ... We can’t go through every document and dream up what the complainant’s case might be,” she said. “It’s too serious for that. We’re entitled to know what it is,” she added.
At the time of the last hearing, RTÉ was disputing Mr Greene’s status as an employee and arguing he had no entitlement to take any employment rights claims.
The tribunal was also told at that time that the State broadcaster was appealing a determination of the Department of Social Protection’s Scope section that found Mr Greene had an employee status at the material time.
Mr Byrnes said his client was before the tribunal with a “legitimate expectation” that he was an employee and that the WRC had “no jurisdiction” to reopen the question of his client’s employment status after the Scope ruling.
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