I am back in the Labour Court today after 3 years, or thereabouts, due to the Covid 19 impact on Irish society.
The case is an appeal by the employer against a decision in my client’s favour at the Workplace Relations Commission. You can read more about that case on EmploymentRightsIreland.com where our client was awarded the maximum award of two years’ salary for a discrimination based dismissal.
That was a spectacular award but will be at risk at the Labour Court as the appeal hearing will be a de novo hearing so we will be starting from scratch and will have to prove everything again.
Although there is a legal argument, and a Supreme Court decision on the point, as to whether one part of our case will have to be proved. But that is an argument we will have to make before the division of the Labour Court this morning.
As it is impossible to know how long the hearing will take, I have had to block the entire day out of my calendar which will have knock on effects on other routine matters in the office such as property transactions.