Kildare creche worker wins case for unfair dismissal
The worker was employed at the company’s facilities in Newbridge, Naas, and Kildare town
A Kildare creche worker who resigned after management repeatedly failed to investigate her complaints of bullying has won a case for unfair dismissal.
Ciara Walsh began working as a pre-school leader with Maap Childcare Limited, trading as Tots Creche and Daycare, in August 2020, and secured multiple promotions over the next four years.
She worked at the company’s facilities in Newbridge, Naas, and Kildare town as curriculum coordinator and assistant manager before becoming service manager in late 2024, when she was based at Grey Abbey.
An adjudication hearing of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was told that Ms Walsh reported directly to Ewa Moniszko, an area manager with whom she had a close personal friendship.
However, she gave evidence that she had felt overwhelmed and unsupported in her promotional posts, alleging that Ms Moniszko had failed to provide adequate training, telling her: “I will show you once and once only.”
Ms Walsh further alleged that she was subjected to offensive comments about her personal appearance. She began vomiting before work and lost three stone in weight, she told the WRC.
Ms Walsh met with co-owner Audrey Murray in November 2024 to discuss her concerns, but alleged that Ms Murray brought in Ms Moniszko, who began crying and denied everything.
She claimed that Ms Moniszko was friends with Ms Murray, and blame was shifted to other staff members as a result. She subsequently contacted the firm’s HR manager and attended a meeting in February, when notes were drafted under the heading “formal complaint”.
Despite this, the HR manager repeatedly questioned whether Ms Walsh wished to proceed formally, and pushed for informal discussions. At a meeting with another co-owner, Annette Ackerlind, in March, Ms Walsh claimed that she was demoted to assistant manager.
Maap Childcare Limited, which is headquartered in Kilcullen, denied constructive unfair dismissal, with Ms Moniszko testifying that she had never intended to cause distress for Ms Walsh.
She said her “once and once only” remark had been intended as a joke, and described Ms Walsh as highly competent.
Ms Ackerlind denied using the phrase “two grown women bitching”, and denied that Ms Walsh had been forced into a demotion. She argued that she had intervened compassionately by offering to fund counselling to support an employee.
In her decision, WRC adjudication officer Brid Deering found that close personal relationships within management had compromised the objectivity and professional responsibility of senior staff at the company.
She concluded that HR and management had no genuine intention of progressing a formal investigation despite clear written requests from Ms Walsh, who had been effectively stonewalled.
Finding that the company had conducted its affairs so unreasonably that Ms Walsh was entitled to terminate her contract of employment, Ms Deering ordered Maap Childcare Ltd to pay €963 in compensation for constructive unfair dismissal.