Lois West, the non-uniformed deputy chief of the GSAS (Garda Síochána Analysis Service) alleges she was sexually harassed and bullied by a senior officer at Garda headquarters. She also claims that she was not backed by top-ranking officials when she brought attention to these events. Her expressive description of her experiences likened it to being “stalked” by an “emotionally unstable” and “volatile” higher-ranking officer at the headquarters, who she claims boasted about having killed 27 people.
She recounts how he would deliberately engineer moments to be in solitude with her and shared disturbing accounts of how all his past partners met untimely and grim deaths. She took a leave of absence due to the stress caused by the situation, during which she reported these events under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, and the Payment of Wages Act 1991, at her WRC hearing.
Ms. West alleges that since reporting official homicide data inaccuracies to the Oireachtas back in 2018, she has been subject to bullying, sexual harassment, her pay has been docked and her career stunted. Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan’s written response to her allegations left her feeling neglected and unprotected, she claims.
She describes an instance where her capacity to strip the senior officer of his swipe card was questioned, as he was due to return from leave. This left her distraught and feeling impotent to shield her staff, prompting her further decision to take sick leave.
However, when informed that the senior officer had departed the force, she rejoined her workplace. Regardless, she learned of a co-worker’s promotion to a ranking higher than hers with no competitive process involved, which added to her distress.
Ms West reported that she had taken another period of medical leave in November 2020 due to a skin condition which her doctor believed was stress-induced from her work setting. She informed the WRC that in February 2021, she managed to briefly return to work for one day. It was at this time that her new boss, Andrew O’Sullivan, the chief information officer of GSAS and Garda, instructed her to discontinue a training course she was taking. He also informed her that she would no longer be leading a team, and her work would be limited to a single project assigned by him, with no expectation to increase her workload.
Feeling that her career progression was being hindered, she expressed her belief that she had reached an impenetrable barrier within An Garda Síochána. She felt her moral stance was being used against her, as stated in one of her communications to the senior management. Ms West also felt unfairly disadvantaged when it was announced that a senior role within GSAS, which she aspired to, would be opened for external applicants, contradicting her initial understanding of internal recruitment process.
The panel was informed that Ms West is still officially on medical leave and since March 2021, her salary was cut by fifty percent, which further dropped to zero in December 2022. She claimed that following a communication sent to her lawyers in June 2022, detailing the results of an investigation into the grievances she had raised about a superior officer, she had not heard any further response from the force. “I am completely devastated as this has cost me my career,” she explained.
The case is currently ongoing.
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