AN ORDER OF nuns has been ordered to pay a former manager more than €70,000 after making false accusations about her remote work and annual leave arrangements.

Ruling on the case, adjudicator Breiffni O’Neill called it “extraordinary” and “one of the most egregious examples of mistreatment” he had seen.

The Roman Catholic order runs a number of health facilities in Ireland.

Geraldine Baxter, who had worked for the Little Sisters of the Poor since 2006, won the maximum two years’ pay in redress under the Unfair Dismissals Act.

She also won eight weeks’ notice pay amounting to €5,040 after the adjudicator found she had made “no contribution” at all to her sacking two years ago.

It brought her total award to €70,560.

Baxter took the case after finding herself suspended for 14 months before she was wrongly dismissed for gross misconduct.

Background to case

The case originated to January 2022 when a new senior nursing manager joined the organisation and looked to change rules around leave and rostering arrangements.

The changes also addressed work-from-home arrangements and said that prior agreements would be in place “until further notice”.

Barrister Tiernan Lowey, for Baxter, had told the WRC that she had always done some of her paperwork from home under an agreement made orally, although it was not recorded in writing by the organisation.

The WRC heard that Baxter had understood the new senior nursing manager email to mean the existing relationship would continue without change.

But she was called to a meeting in May 2020 where she was told she faced two allegations, namely the falsification of timekeeping records and the falsification of annual leave records.

Baxter had told the Little Sisters that she had worked from home to do paperwork in a “calmer environment” and that she had always been “completely transparent and accountable” about the arrangement.

She accepted there was no written agreement on this entitlement, but stated that it had been the “open and transparent practice” for the previous six years, the WRC was told.

Lowey told the WRC that “strongly rejected” the allegations and expressed concern that the Little Sisters of the Poor was trying to remove her from her role and replace her with a younger member of staff on a lower salary,” Lowey submitted.

WRC findings

In its findings, the Workplace Relations Commission found that an accusation that Baxter had falsified annual leave records had relied on the “fading” memory of a nun. Evidence provided by another witness who said she saw the nun in question sign them was “inexplicably disregarded”.

Outlining his decision, O’Neill said there was a “callous nature” to the treatment of Baxter by the Little Sisters of the Poor.

“This is an extraordinary case, representing one of the most egregious examples of the mistreatment of an employee by an employer that I have encountered in my professional life,” he said.

He also said that he believed reinstatement to her old role was the “most appropriate remedy” given her treatment, explaining that he was providing her with compensation “with great reluctance” out of respect to Baxter’s wishes.

O’Neill said the evidence demonstrated she was a long-standing employee who it was “not disputed was an excellent performer” prior to the allegations being made.

The adjudicator added: “While the callous nature of the Complainant’s treatment and the disregard shown to her, both as a human being and an employee of long service, in relation to the termination of her employment was insignificant in terms of my ultimate findings, it is nonetheless indicative of the Respondent’s treatment of her throughout the entire process and is not the conduct of a reasonable employer.”