23/07/2026
Kavanagh and Co are delighted to have acted for the Whistleblower employee in Workplace Relations Commission decision (ADJ-00047295 & ADJ-00050890), in which the Waterford Intellectual Disability Association was ordered to pay €323,240 under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 — the largest award made by the WRC under this legislation to date.
The adjudicator found our client had been penalised "in a most egregious manner" for raising protected disclosures, and directed the charity to acknowledge her position, quash two internal reports, and issue a full and unequivocal apology. The charity has since replaced its board and issued an apology to our client.
This followed earlier Circuit Court proceedings in 2024, where urgent interim relief was sought resulting in undertakings given by the charity including not to proceed with the recruitment of a CEO pending resolution of the WRC complaints.
This result reflects Kavanagh and Co's experience representing employees in whistleblower and protected disclosures cases, often against well-resourced opponents and through lengthy, contested proceedings.
Proud to have worked alongside Shaun Boylan BL on this case, together with Cathy Smith SC in the Circuit Court proceedings. It's an honour to have acted as solicitor for the Psychiatric Nurses' Association of Ireland (PNA) for over 10 years, bringing important cases like this for their members.
