Labour Court hears appeal of Ogle discrimination claim

The Labour Court is hearing an appeal of a discrimination case taken by trade union official Brendan Ogle against his employer Unite.

In October last year Mr Ogle lost a case at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) after it found that changes to his role at Unite were not related to his status as a cancer survivor.

Mr Ogle had claimed that his duties had been downgraded after his return from cancer treatment and that he been discriminated against, a claim denied by Unite.

Mr Ogle is representing himself at the Labour Court appeal and began today’s hearing by telling the court that in May this year he was informed by Unite that if the case was unsuccessful he would be subject to disciplinary proceedings by the union, something which he said was putting him under undue pressure.

Senior Counsel for Unite, Mark Harty, told the court that Mr Ogle had been notified that a grievance had been raised against him but that he was not going to be disciplined.

Mr Ogle told the court that he underwent cancer treatment between July 2021 and July 2022.

Prior to his diagnosis, Mr Ogle said he held a substantial position within Unite and was the union’s most senior official in the Republic of Ireland.

He said he underwent a return-to-work interview in July 2022 having been passed fit by a doctor to return to his job with some minor adjustments.

Mr Ogle claimed that rather than facilitating his return to work, the interview was used to prevent him returning to duties for which he had been passed medically fit.

He said his line manager spent most of the interview trying to get him to take a different position in Dundalk.

“This coercion was deeply upsetting having only just recovered from cancer,” Mr Ogle told the court.

“The agreed return-to-work process was subverted and turned into one preventing me from returning to my role,” he added.

Mr Ogle told the court that in August 2022 he had a meeting with senior Unite official Tom Fitzgerald who said he had been asked to draw up a strategic plan for the union for the Republic of Ireland and that Mr Ogle was not to be in it.

Mr Ogle said Mr Fitzgerald had used a white board in his office to outline the new plan.

During the original WRC hearing, Mr Fitzgerald strenuously denied Mr Ogle’s account of events.

Outlining Unite’s case, Mr Harty told the Labour Court that Mr Ogle’s allegations are “wholly false” and that he is trying to “shoehorn” a complaint about the reorganisation of posts into an equality case.

Mr Harty said that while Mr Ogle had a substantial role in Unite, it was not as substantial or as singular as Mr Ogle has maintained.

Mr Harty said Mr Ogle was focused on political campaigns.

He told the court that when Sharon Graham became General Secretary of Unite in August 2021, she was elected on a platform to shift the union’s focus from politics to industrial issues.

Mr Harty said that this change impacted Mr Ogle’s role as his focus was political, and that the reorganising of his role was not related to his cancer.

Mr Harty told the court that this is not how Unite behaves towards sick employees and that it had been particularly accommodating to Mr Ogle by offering him an alternative role.

“At his request, the union facilitated a lesser and less stressful role in Dundalk, in which he would maintain his salary and benefits at the higher level,” Mr Harty said.

“It kept that offer open to him on his return to work, but he ultimately elected not to take it,” he added.

The hearing continues.