Brothers of Charity denies financial negligence allegations made by employee

Thu, 21 Oct, 2021 - 20:30

Noel Baker

Brothers of Charity Southern Services has today denied allegations of financial negligence and under-reporting made by a current employee.

At a Workplace Relations Commission hearing, the charity also denied allegations made by Ann Holden, a social worker, that she was in any way penalised for raising concerns about a range of issues, including the financial affairs of service-users.

Ms Holden claimed at the hearing that she was penalised after she made what she said were protected disclosures, some of which she said went back to 2018, including one she claimed she made to the then-Minister for Health.

However, the Brothers of Charity rebutted the claims, and also argued that Ms Holden had not brought some of the issues to the direct attention of her line manager, and that what she claimed were protected disclosures were not protected disclosures.

At the WRC, with the case being heard by adjudicator Tom O'Driscoll, Sophie Crosbie of Ibec, representing the Brothers of Charity Southern Services, also argued that the jurisdiction of the WRC to hear the case was limited, and that Ms Holden had a range of grievances regarding her employer, and that she was also the subject of a grievance raised by her manager within the service.

Ms Holden, representing herself, alleged that since last January, she has been penalised in three ways: initial demotion in her work duties, then her suspension, and that she has not been afforded fair procedures.

The charity denied the claims, and said Ms Holden had been suspended for legitimate reasons, including failing to follow a direct instruction from her line manager.

Ms Holden alleged "acts of omission and non-reporting" on behalf of the charity and told the hearing she had been concerned at one point that a service user may have been overcharged — she alleged by as much as €60,000 — because he was still paying the rate for residential care despite having been moved to a community setting.

She also alleged that a woman who had been in a Magdalene Laundry had received an award — later found to have been paid directly into her bank account — but was unaware of this for two years, arguing that the charity should have known about the payment. She argued that this was "at best, negligence".

Ms Holden also alleged the money of a service user was used to buy a car which he could not drive, as he had an intellectual disability. An email exchange between Ms Holden and a senior manager, in which this was referenced, was shared with the WRC during the hearing by Ms Crosbie in the context of challenging that allegation.

Ms Crosbie said the charity denied all the allegations and said Ms Holden had no direct evidence to support them. Ms Holden said she had raised concerns in good faith and claimed she had been penalised by the Brothers of Charity Southern Services — where she is still employed — for raising them. The charity denies this.

Mr O'Driscoll said he would deliver a judgement in due course, which can then be appealed by either party.

Afterwards, the Brothers of Charity said the issues raised by the staff member "have previously been examined and concluded on. These examinations do not support the allegations."

It added that as the matter is under examination by the WRC, further comment would not be appropriate at this time.