A clerical assistant who claimed she had been bullied and harassed by her employer had not matched up to the requirements of her job, a judge said yesterday when he threw out her €38,000 claim for damages.
Mr Justice Esmond Smyth told Joanne Hickey (33) that the case she had made in court about how she had been treated by the Health Insurance Authority did not constitute bullying or harassment in the workplace on any objective view.
"I don't think under any reasonable assessment of the authority's conduct that its behaviour could be regarded in that light," he said.
"I have been impressed by its professionalism as a responsible employer in endeavouring to help Ms Hickey improve her work performance."
Mr Justice Smyth told Marguerite Bolger, counsel for the authority, that the defendants were entitled to their legal costs. The case had run for three days in court and could cost Ms Hickey more than €20,000.
Judge Smyth said the courts did not compensate people for mere wounded feelings and he accepted that Ms Hickey's boss, the authority's corporate affairs manager, Imelda Gallagher, had acted as any responsible employer would in endeavouring to help her improve her work performance.
He said Ms Hickey had misunderstood what had been happening and perhaps had taken such direction more personally than another may have done. The authority had not breached its contract of employment with Ms Hickey, who had been on probation when sacked in March 2004, nor had it breached its duty of care to her.
Ms Hickey had claimed she had been bullied and harassed to such an extent that she had been left in a state of absolute emotional exhaustion.