Brendan Ogle takes case to WRC against Unite trade union

According to documents lodged with the Workplace Relations Commission, Mr Ogle was out of work with illness for a year and since his return, his 'duties, tasks and responsibilities' have been removed from him. File picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

Leading trade unionist Brendan Ogle has lodged a complaint against his employer, Unite, claiming he has been victimised and penalised for making a protected disclosure. 

Mr Ogle, who is the union’s senior officer in this country, is claiming he was victimised and discriminated against because of a disability and that he was harassed by his employer. 

According to documents lodged with the Workplace Relations Commission, Mr Ogle was out of work with illness for a year and since his return, his “duties, tasks and responsibilities” have been removed from him. 

He also claims he was “penalised or threatened with penalisation” by his employer because he made a protected disclosure. 

This, he claims, was linked to adherence to covid protocols during the pandemic, which he says he reported to his employer but the “mistreatment and penalisation” continued.

When contacted, Mr Ogle said he had no comment to make on the matter. 

Queries submitted to Unite's Irish office did not receive any reply. 

Last year, the Irish Examiner reported on a rift between Mr Ogle and his employer following his return to work after an illness. 

He retained his job title and pay in Unite, but he claimed he had been frozen out in other aspects of his work. His wife, Mandy LaCombre, who also works in industrial relations, posted on Facebook that he was being frozen out. 

“This is clearly a deliberate exercise in isolating him from any of his normal union duties and an attempt to keep him away from others in Unite who respect him, and are wondering where he is now that he has returned [to work],” she posted. 

At the time, Unite denied there was any substance to these allegations.

Mr Ogle has been a leading figure in the trade union movement for more than 20 years since he was general secretary of the Irish Locomotive Drivers Association, where he organised a rail strike in 2000. 

He was also the head of the ESB group of unions prior to joining Unite.