A suspended employee of St Michael's House, a disability service provider in Dublin, has said that after she lodged a harassment and bullying complaint about a co-worker, her life became "an absolute nightmare".
Margaret Power, who worked at St Michael's House since 1980, was giving evidence at the Employment Appeals Tribunal in a constructive dismissal case brought against the charity by Dr Mark Harrold.
He alleges a campaign of bullying was orchestrated against him when he voiced concerns about the transfer of a resident, Peter McKenna (60), to Leas Cross nursing home. Mr McKenna, who had Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease, died 10 days after he left St Michael's. Dr Harrold resigned in 2004.
Ms Power worked as a deputy house manager at Ailesbury Respite house, which is part of St Michael's. She made a bullying and harassment complaint about a co-worker in April 2005 and has been suspended from work since December 22nd last for not co-operating with the investigation into her allegation. Up until making this complaint, she said her work environment was ideal. "The environment was challenging, uplifting and a lot of times joyful. I was fortunate to have spent so many years working in an environment that was so wholesome and good," she said.
However, she said things "dramatically changed" following her complaint. "What happened subsequent to that was an absolute nightmare." Ms Power said her complaint was not investigated for 50 days and her role in work began to be "deconstructed".
She was also unhappy with the composition of the internal team set up to investigate her complaint. She said one of the three-person team had managed the person she complained about and a second was a colleague of this person. She complained about this to management and then refused to meet with the investigators and was subsequently suspended.
Ms Power and Dr Harrold did not know each other while employed at St Michael's.
The case continues on Monday.