Following a HSE takeover of a rehabilitation centre in the Midlands, a man in his 70s, who had dedicated his life to volunteering for the disabled through care and music therapy, has been granted an award of £61,000 for violation of rights. Having committed his career to the charity, John Clark reported to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that annual expenses had escalated from £3 million during the time of volunteering coworkers to £11 million with the introduction of a new staffing schema.
John Clark alleged at a hearing two years prior that his unpaid services over the years had led to savings of around £1.1 million for the government. He had anticipated that he would be able to continue living at Camphill Communities of Ireland in Ballytobin, Callan, Co Kilkenny, once he attained retirement, expecting continued financial and care support in exchange for his lifelong dedication. This was what he had agreed to 38 years earlier and what he had envisaged, he iterated to the WRC in a hearing nearly two years prior.
John Clark contended that the Camphill Communities of Ireland failed to grant him his rightful redundancy or unfairly dismissed him following major organisational amendments in 2017, which led to unpaid long-term volunteers being supplanted by salaried staff. He claimed he was unjustly removed, ending up reliant only on a non-contributory State pension and the financial backing of his fellow housemates and companion.
In a hearing held on 28th March 2022, the plaintiff said he began volunteering in Scotland in early 1970s and completed several years’ training before moving to Ireland in early 1980s to serve full-time at Ballytobin. Here, he remained till 2017, fulfilling roles such as physiotherapy, teaching, training and care duties, as well as leading music therapy. He also arranged events and festivals, besides overseeing the construction of a new assembly building. He never received a regular salary or hourly wage, but possessed a credit card to pay personal expenses within a ‘needs-based’ policy which also covered housing, food and travel costs, all of which had to be substantiated with receipts.
The witness claimed that the yearly average expenditure on volunteer expenses for the charity – encompassing food and accommodation – amounted to €15,000. Due to the nature of his role, he contended his personal expenditures would have been higher.
“Everything we purchased, no matter how small or large, was itemised and approved,” he stated.
He faced a suspension which he believed was unjust during the summer of 2017. This was following the takeover by the HSE and the re-opening of a case that he recalled was already comprehensively examined in 2011. The consequence was a forced absence from his community for over a year while an in-house investigation and a subsequent independent inquiry were conducted regarding a charge, the details of which were never revealed to the tribunal.
He reportedly had a meeting with the ex-CEO of Camphill, Ann Sheehan, as well as Joe Lynch, the newly appointed chief operating officer, to discuss the possibility of continuing in a caretaker role at Ballytobin at one stage.
His barrister, Stephen O’Sullivan BL, backed up by solicitor Michael Lanigan, agreed that there was no argument that his interaction with Camphill concluded in 2018.
Contrarily, the charity, represented by solicitor Sarah Conroy, asserted that Mr Clark expressed in writing in late 2018 that he did not seek “official employment” and that he had claimed he was “never an employee”. The CEO of the charity disputed in her testimony that Mr. Clark’s remuneration would have equated to €45,000 per annum, as he professed. Instead, she stated if he had signed an employment contract, he would have been given a €15-per-hour role as a tutor, totalling roughly €23,000 per year.
Although the perspective of Camphill was that Mr. Clark did not meet the legal criteria for employment status, the WRC’s adjudicator, Anne McElduff, disagreed with this in a decision made public on the past Friday. She conceded that he was entitled to pursue his employment rights accusations.
McElduff granted Mr. Clark €60,000 compensation for lost wages resulting from a violation of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, determining that the charity had wrongly terminated his contract without justifiable reasons for redundancy and without following due procedure.
The arbitrator further imposed a fine of €1,000 in light of the breach regarding the Employment (Information) Act 1994, as no written agreement was presented. In the absence of any redundancy, Ms McElduff dismissed Mr Clark’s entitlement under the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967.
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