WRC Rejects Unfair Dismissal Claim by Cork Nurse Against Marymount Hospital

Dublin: The Workplace Relations Commission has dismissed an unfair dismissal complaint brought by a nurse who claimed she was effectively forced to leave her position at Marymount University Hospital and Hospice in Cork.

The complaint was lodged by Mary Ruth Marcos, who had worked at the hospital since 2002 and had been assigned exclusively to night shifts since 2016.

Ms. Marcos argued that family circumstances, including concerns relating to her son’s serious mental health condition, made it difficult for her to work daytime shifts.

The case arose after the hospital informed the nurse that she could continue in her role only if she agreed to work day shifts for a six-month period.

Rather than accepting the change, Ms. Marcos resigned from her position and subsequently filed a complaint alleging constructive dismissal.

However, the Workplace Relations Commission found that the claim was not supported by the evidence and rejected the complaint.

Outside Employment Triggered Investigation

The hospital introduced the day-shift requirement after becoming aware that Ms. Marcos was undertaking separate nursing work during daytime hours.

Management discovered that she had been providing paid care to another patient who was receiving treatment at the hospital. An internal review later confirmed that she had been carrying out this work and receiving payment for it.

The nurse argued that hospital policies did not specifically require employees to disclose outside employment. While the hospital accepted that no explicit policy existed, management maintained that professional and ethical obligations required such work to be disclosed.

Hospital’s Actions Found Reasonable

During the hearing, the hospital argued that there were no medical or clinical reasons preventing Ms. Marcos from working daytime shifts.

The nurse maintained that her personal circumstances made day work impractical and that the requirement effectively forced her resignation.

However, Thomas O’Driscoll, who adjudicated the case, noted that the legal threshold for proving constructive dismissal in Ireland is particularly high.

He found that evidence presented during the hearing indicated that Ms. Marcos had sought advice regarding retirement and pension options before refusing the proposed work arrangements, suggesting that retirement had already been under consideration.

Mr. O’Driscoll concluded that the hospital’s investigation into the nurse’s outside employment was both appropriate and necessary under the circumstances.

He further found that the hospital had acted reasonably in requiring her to undertake day shifts and ruled that the evidence did not support a finding of constructive dismissal.

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