Siptu rejects bullying and harassment allegations made by whistleblower, WRC told
The Workplace Relations Commission heard that Ger Malone gave interviews to Gript media on November 10, 2022, where she claimed some members had confided in her about issues of bullying at two local authorities and some had contemplated suicide. Photo: Patrick Browne
Siptu has rejected all 17 protected disclosure allegations made by a senior member, including bullying and harassment, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has heard.
The allegations, which include bullying, harassment, and intimidation, were made by Ger Malone who has worked in the country’s largest trade union for more than 30 years.
The case, which opened in Waterford courthouse on Wednesday, is centred on Ms Malone’s belief that she was victimised by management for raising allegations of wrongdoing under the Protected Disclosures’ Act 2014.
On Thursday, Karan O’Loughlin, divisional organiser for Siptu, told the WRC that Ms Malone gave interviews to Gript media on November 10, 2022, where she claimed some members had confided in her about issues of bullying at two local authorities and some had contemplated suicide.
She said Ms Malone had not been given permission to give the interviews and was later asked by management to arrange removing the comments from online.
Siptu’s submission said: “The respondent organisation received an email from the LGMA on November 11, 2022, attaching a link to the Gript interview stating, ‘can you confirm that the views expressed in the [interview] represent the views of Siptu?' This was the first time that the respondent organisation, in particular Ms Malone’s sector organiser, became aware that Ms Malone had engaged in an interview with Gript media in relation to Siptu member issues.
“The respondent organisation’s external solicitor told the union ‘Having seen the video, I am satisfied that the recording is defamatory of the two local authorities concerned. It is my view that because of the apparent Siptu involvement, the video should be taken down if this is possible.’"
The hearing was told Ms Malone was instructed to contact Gript media and request that the video be taken down from their website. She wrote to the organisation on November 29, 2022, stating: "Please remove the above from Gript’s media sources as concerns of defamation have been expressed."
“Gript media agreed to remove the Siptu logo only from the interview but did not remove the interview,” Ms O’Loughlin told the WRC.
She said the allegations made in the interviews by Ms Malone were against two local authorities and therefore “do not fall within the definition of relevant wrongdoing as set out in the Act”.
Another one of Ms Malone’s protected disclosures involved her request to management to appeal two decisions by the Labour Court in 2022 relating to the calculation of annual leave and public holidays.
Ms O’Loughlin said that in a meeting, "it was outlined to Ms Malone that it is union policy to appeal Labour Court decisions to the High Court on an exceptional basis only”. “The legal advice received was not to appeal the decision," she said.
The reasons included "the amount claimed is dated back to 1999” and “there is no prospect of this sum being awarded”.
Siptu has denied all the allegations made by Ms Malone and the case is due to return before the WRC at a later date.
Adjudicator Ms Flynn told Ms Malone that she only wanted to hear about the allegations against Siptu and not the local authorities. She said: “The respondent here is Siptu. The county councils are not a party to this complaint.”
Ms Malone objected, saying the WRC therefore “is not taking in the practices, the environment or what was going on in the actual different places and it doesn’t reflect what I was going through here".
Ms Flynn said she has “noted” Ms Malone’s concerns and described her case as “unusual given the volume of protected disclosures".
