The Acts clearly set out that it is unlawful for an employer to penalise an employee for taking action around the enforcement of their rights under the Acts.

The Acts state that victimisation occurs where dismissal or other adverse treatment of an employee is a reaction by the employer to a complaint of discrimination made by the employee to the employer or an employee having given notice of an intention to take any of the action relating to discriminatory treatment perceived or otherwise.

The Acts define victimisation as occurring where dismissal or some other adverse treatment of an employee by his or her employer occurs as a reaction to



  • a complaint of discrimination made by the employee to the employer



  • any proceedings by a Claimant



  • an employee having represented or otherwise supported a Claimant



  • the work of an employee having been compared with that of another employee for any of the purposes of these Acts or any enactment repealed by these Acts



  • an employee having been witness in any proceedings under these Acts or any such repealed enactment



  • an employee having opposed by lawful means an act which is unlawful under these Acts or any such repealed enactment, or



  • an employee having given notice or an intention to take any of the actions mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.

Section 74(2) of the Acts states:

“(2) For the purposes of this Part victimisation occurs where dismissal or other adverse treatment of an employee by his or her employer occurs as a reaction to



  • a complaint of discrimination made by the employee to the employer



  • any proceedings by a Claimant



  • an employee having represented or otherwise supported a Claimant



  • the work of an employee having been compared with that of another employee for any of the purposes of this Act or any enactment repealed by this Act



  • an employee having been a witness in any proceedings under this Act or the Equal Status Act 2000 or any such repealed enactment



  • an employee having opposed by lawful means an act which is unlawful under this Act or the said Act of 2000 or which was unlawful or any such repealed enactment, or



  • an employee having given notice of an intention to take any of the actions mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.

In the Labour Court in the case of Toni and Guy Blackrock Limited v Paul O’Neill Determination No HSD095, it was noted that the Court is not concerned with the fairness of the dismissal per se. Its sole function is to establish whether or not the dismissal was caused by the Claimant having committed an act protected by Section 27(3) of the Act,
“…in order to make out a complaint of penalisation it is necessary for a claimant to establish that the detriment of which he or she complains was imposed “for” having committed one of the acts protected by subsection 3.”

Although not explicitly dealing with victimization under the Acts this is a good indication of how a Tribunal will consider such matters. The detriment giving rise to the complaint must have been incurred because of, or in retaliation for, the Claimant having committed a protected act. Where there is more than one causal factor in the chain of events leading to the detriment complained of the commission of a protected act must be an operative cause in the sense that “but for” the Claimant having committed the protected act he or she would not have suffered the detriment. This involves a consideration of the motive or reasons which influenced the decision maker in imposing the impugned determent.


If you believe that you may have been discriminated against at work or victimized for raising your concerns and to find out more about your rights or how we can help you call us on 1890 88 90 90 or email info@employment-matters.ie with your concerns.

Our claims process… It’s as easy as 1,2,3

Submit your
Query

To start the process Simply complete the form above giving us as much information as you can and we can assess the quality of your claim and advise you on the level of compensation you deserve.

We Contact
you

We’ll contact you to discuss how you’d like to proceed and to give you some no obligation advice as to how to best progress your claim.

We get to Work and finance your Claim

If you want us to act for you we can get to work straight away, writing to the Defendant, arranging a medical and financing the cost of all the relevant aspects of your claim.

IMPORTANT: The above are exapmles and are not intended as legal advice and such should not be relied upon. The content of this site is not recommended as a substitute for legal advice and as such Employment Matters accepts no responsibility in relation to these and the above does not constitute legal advice.
Employment Matters
Unit 6A, Wallace House, Canada Street, Waterford
051 841 641 | 1890 88 90 90
info@employment-matters.ie
© ALL rights reserved - Employment Matters

We use cookies and similar technologies to run this website and help us understand how you use it.