Omniplex have to pay double after appealing workplace relations decision
Omniplex Cinema Waterford where Mr O'Riordan worked.
Dylan O’Riordan was awarded €29,000 in a recent dismissal of an appeal made by Omniplex, over a Labour Court case relating to disability law.
In what some are referring to as a ‘landmark’ Labour Court appeal in Waterford on March 31, Omniplex were found to discriminate against Mr O'Riordan on the basis of his disability by failing to provide him with reasonable accommodations.
O'Riordan, an East Cork native living in Waterford, commenced employment with Omniplex Cork Limited at the Waterford branch of Omniplex on Patrick Street in Waterford city in March 2022. He disclosed his autism during the onboarding process and was promoted twice within his first year, taking up the role of full-time Duty Manager in March 2023.
From late 2022, O'Riordan made repeated requests to management for basic roster adjustments to accommodate his disability: two consecutive days off per week, a more consistent schedule, and a mixture of closing and non-closing shifts. Those requests were not acted upon. By late 2023, O'Riordan had disclosed to his employer that he was experiencing suicidal ideation and regularly experiencing autistic shutdown and meltdowns.
He commenced certified sick leave while continuing to engage with management regarding his return to work.
An occupational health assessment by Medmark in January 2024 formally recommended the same accommodations O'Riordan had been requesting. The company made a number of roster proposals in the weeks that followed. None adequately met his requirements.
O'Riordan resigned in June 2024 following the submission of his complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission on May 7, 2024.
The WRC upheld his complaint in October 2024, awarding €12,000 in compensation.
Omniplex appealed the decision to the Labour Court in November 2024. The court heard of a seven-month-long process whereby an employee of the cinema, Dylan O’Riordan, asked his employer for what he referred to as “reasonable accommodations” for his disability.
Omniplex argued that they engaged with Mr O’Riordan “in good faith” for seven months and offered him three options” which he “refused".
The Workplace Relations Commission had already ruled in Mr O’Riordan’s favour in October 2024 and instructed Omniplex to pay Mr O’Riordan €12,000 in compensation; however, Omniplex appealed the decision.
Called to testify was Mr Fitzpatrick, who was the HR manager for the Waterford branch of the Omniplex. He explained why there was a delay in responding to Mr O’Riordan’s requests. He said, “We said we would be willing to work on a plan for him, but didn’t want to be seen to be harassing him.”
Upon being asked to produce the company's disability policy, Ms Moloney, who was representing Omniplex, could not. The chair of the court, Mr Haugh, told Ms Moloney, that “you should have anticipated that your members' statement would be very important in this case”.
Ms Moloney replied that she didn’t realise she was allowed to submit Omniplex’s ‘Dignity and Disability’ policy.
When Ms Grace Sinnott, Mr O’Riordan’s line manager, was asked whether she had completed any formal disability training, she began to tell the court that several of her family members have “special needs” so she had personal experience but she was advised by the chair of the court and her own counsel not to continue with her point as it was not relevant.
Omniplex Cork Limited was represented throughout these proceedings by IBEC, Ireland's largest employer representative body, of which they are a member. IBEC publishes the Reasonable Accommodation Passport, its flagship guidance tool for employers on meeting their obligations to disabled employees under the Employment Equality Acts. In the document's foreword, IBEC CEO Danny McCoy wrote that "people with disabilities usually know what they need to do the job" and that accommodations are often simply a matter of "changing start or end times".
Evidence before the Labour Court established that Omniplex's HR Manager was unaware that the Reasonable Accommodation Passport existed until it was referenced in O'Riordan's legal submissions.
In a statement on their website, the Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer Gaye Cunningham said, “I require the Respondent to engage awareness training / workshops for Management in an effort to introduce a positive management approach to staff with neurological complex conditions such as autism.”
