Labour Court recommends mediation in worker’s dispute with Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital

The Labour Court recommended mediation on 18 July 2023 in a worker’s dispute with Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital, represented by the Health Service Executive. The worker was represented by Unite the Union. The dispute followed a team meeting with her manager that upset her and a colleague. The manager had apologised several times. At the hearing, the parties agreed in principle to mediation with an external mediator to be agreed by them. The Court recommended they pursue that resolution and said it expected the matter would not be referred back to it. The worker had appealed an Adjudication Officer recommendation that the dispute was res judicata and outside her jurisdiction. The Court said that principle did not apply because its role was to recommend a resolution, not make judicial decisions. The worker and her representative had failed to attend an earlier Labour Court hearing in related proceedings.