Pregnant paramedic awarded €15,000 for discrimination 

HSE accepted that if a man had ill health and was redeployed, he would get the subsistence payment denied to the claimant

There was no explanation as to why Deirdre Mullally was left with a financial and time burden which others in similar situations did not face.

A paramedic working for the National Ambulance Service has been awarded €15,000 by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for discrimination she experienced while pregnant.

The complainant, Deirdre Mullally, is an advanced paramedic who has been working for the HSE’s National Ambulance Service since 2010.

The WRC upheld her claim that she was discriminated against when she was not paid travel and subsistence in relation to her temporary redeployment to Wexford hospital during her pregnancy.

When she informed the HSE she was pregnant in 2020, Ms Mullally was relocated 35km from her assigned base and 44km away from her home for the duration of her pregnancy and was not afforded additional expenses.

The HSE said that she was moved from frontline duties to mitigate the risk of injury in the course of duty, and the potential risk of covid-19 to her and her baby.

As she was relocated on health and safety grounds and within 45km of her current work address or home address, the HSE said she did not qualify for any subsistence payments, as set out in the Haddington Road agreement.

However, the Haddington Road agreement had expired in 2016, before Ms Mullaly made her initial grievance claim with her employer about the issue.

Ms Mullally said it was “fundamentally unfair” that she was not granted subsistence for her temporary relocation while pregnant, as any other time she had been deployed she was paid expenses. She claimed her subsistence entitlement, if granted, could have added up to €8,062.04.

Male colleagues

She highlighted that other male colleagues who are on light duties due to illness or disabilities were accommodated in their assigned stations, or if required to travel, were accommodated with a national ambulance service vehicle and were not disadvantaged in relation to their time or expense.

Under cross-examination, the HSE accepted that the Haddington Road agreement had expired, and that nowhere else in its policies was it stated that Ms Mullally could not receive expenses.

It was also accepted that if a man had ill health and was redeployed to a station 8km or more away, that he would get subsistence.

The WRC ruled that Ms Mullally met the criteria for subsistence and had established a prima facie case of discrimination under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015.

There was no explanation as to why she was left with a financial and time burden which others in similar situations did not face, and as the HSE failed to objectively justify the discrimination, Ms Mullally was awarded €15,000 in compensation.