A woman who was sacked by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service after she complained of being bullied was victimised and should be reinstated, the Labour Court has found.
In a recommendation highly critical of the IBTS, the court said the dismissal of Ms Marian Daniels appeared to be "inextricably linked" to her complaint of alleged bullying by a supervisor.
Her treatment "amounted to victimisation", it said. There had also been "a complete denial of procedural fairness" in the way the IBTS dealt with complaints of misconduct against Ms Daniels, the court concluded.
Ms Daniels had been working for the service as a donor attendant for 10 months and was on probation at the time of her dismissal.
Her union, AGEMO, which is part of SIPTU, told the court she had felt "victimised and bullied" during her employment, and that she had not been fairly treated.
She made a formal complaint of bullying to management and a tribunal was set up to investigate, but it concluded her allegations could not be substantiated.
After the tribunal's report was issued, a number of meetings took place between management, Ms Daniels and the union. Following these she was dismissed for "disciplinary matters".
The union then referred the matter to the Labour Relations Commission, but the IBTS refused to attend a conciliation conference. It also declined to attend a Labour Court hearing, but did provide a written submission setting out its position.
The court said it was regrettable that the IBTS did not attend "and avail of the opportunity to explain more fully the basis upon which it decided to terminate the claimant's employment.
"Having considered the submissions of the union and the documentation which it provided, the court has no doubt that the claimant was unfairly dismissed on both substantive and procedural grounds. It appears that the dismissal was inextricably linked to the complaint of bullying which she made and this amounted to victimisation."
It recommended that Ms Daniels be reinstated to her former position and "paid compensation in an amount equal to the full salary which she would have earned between the date of her dismissal and the date on which her reinstatement takes effect."
A spokeswoman for the IBTS said it would not comment on the matter.
