{"id":201269,"date":"2025-12-20T03:34:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T03:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/201269\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T03:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T03:34:08","slug":"garda-with-severe-asthma-claims-management-ignored-covid-health-advice-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/201269\/","title":{"rendered":"Garda with severe asthma claims management \u2018ignored\u2019 Covid health advice \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A veteran garda<\/a> with severe asthma, who claims he was discriminated against when he was put back on the beat at the height of a winter Covid-19 surge in 2022, was \u201cgrossly exaggerating\u201d safety requirements, counsel for the State has argued.<\/p>\n

However, the garda\u2019s lawyers submitted that he is \u201cincredibly brave\u201d to challenge the \u201crobust\u201d Garda workplace culture. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to ask ourselves is: if a State body doesn\u2019t uphold the law, what does that set as an example for society?\u201d Emma Davey BL told the Workplace Relations Commission<\/a> (WRC) on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Garda Joseph Joyce, who has been on the force since 2000, has alleged disability discrimination, harassment and victimisation in breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998 in statutory complaints against the Commissioner of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and the Minister for Justice. <\/p>\n

The WRC has heard Gda Joyce, who was based at Longford Garda station when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, was at high risk of severe illness if he contracted the disease and had been told by his doctor to cocoon.<\/p>\n

That advice was \u201cignored\u201d by local Garda management when they ordered him to return to work in person on New Year\u2019s Day 2022, his lawyers have said. <\/p>\n

The State denies his complaints, saying there were \u201cappropriate measures\u201d in place in the district to shield Gda Joyce and his colleagues from the coronavirus and that there are jurisdictional issues with the WRC ruling on his claims. <\/p>\n

The tribunal heard closing arguments in the matter on Thursday, the ninth day of hearings in the equality case. <\/p>\n

Giving evidence earlier this year, Gda Joyce said he told local superiors he would continue working from home on the basis of medical advice when he was first asked to come back to work in December 2021. <\/p>\n

The tribunal heard that a senior officer wrote to Gda Joyce on the afternoon of New Year\u2019s Eve 2021 directing him to either produce a report from a medical specialist or report for duty the following morning at 7am.<\/p>\n

He told the WRC he spoke by phone with Supt Seamus Boyle on New Year\u2019s Eve and had received an assurance that he \u201cwould not be dealing with people\u201d \u2013 but was ordered to go out on foot patrol in Longford<\/a> town the next day, January 1st 2022. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was horrified, to tell you the truth,\u201d Gda Joyce said. He said when he arrived to the station he pointed out to a superior, Brian Boland \u2013 then a sergeant, but since promoted, that the bottles of hand sanitiser at the station were empty and there were no wipes for cleaning IT equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe informed me the station hadn\u2019t been cleaned since before Christmas,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He said he was sent out on patrol without a working radio that day, which he said was in breach of protocol, and encountered members of the public who failed to abide by social distancing advice. <\/p>\n

Recounting the evidence of the State\u2019s witnesses in a closing submission on Thursday, State counsel Dylan West BL said the now-retired Supt Boyle, had been clear that he \u201csimply never would have said Garda Joyce would never have been working with people\u201d. <\/p>\n

Ms Davey, who was instructed by Rachel Scanlon of Tormeys Solicitors for Gda Joyce, said the \u201cattitude\u201d in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na had been revealed when the retired superintendent responded to a question about the question of reasonable accommodation with the remark: \u201cWhere do you draw the line between cancer and a cold?\u201d<\/p>\n

The comment \u201cshowed a complete dismissal of Garda Joyce\u2019s disabilities,\u201d Ms Davey submitted.<\/p>\n

Mr West said it was \u201cextremely unfair and a little bit cheap to ask Mr Boyle questions about medical issues … and jump on his response to that\u201d when it had not been his function in the force.<\/p>\n

Insp Boland\u2019s evidence to the tribunal was that he would \u201cnever\u201d send a garda out on patrol without a radio and that Gda Joyce was issued a \u201cpool radio\u201d on the day, Mr West added.<\/p>\n

The witness\u2019s further evidence was that he was \u201cblue in the face\u201d telling his officers at their briefings \u201cto step back if they had to and keep their masks on\u201d, Mr West said. <\/p>\n

Garda witnesses had \u201ccompletely contradicted\u201d Gda Joyce and told the tribunal that face masks were worn, social distancing was observed, antigen tests were available and the station was being routinely cleaned, Mr West said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith respect to Garda Joyce, I say he is grossly exaggerating what might have been required,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Mr West pointed to a special carveout in the equality legislation which recognised the \u201cspecial status\u201d of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and its need to preserve operational capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cGarda Joyce is a frontline member of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. We\u2019ve heard evidence that\u2019s not a role that can be completed from home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ms Davey said there was a \u201clack of understanding\u201d in the force of an employer\u2019s obligation to disabled members. <\/p>\n

\u201cGarda Joyce is incredibly brave to challenge this extremely robust workplace … The question we have to ask ourselves is: if a State body doesn\u2019t uphold the law, what does that set as an example for society,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A veteran garda with severe asthma, who claims he was discriminated against when he was put back on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,72,61,60,3181],"class_list":{"0":"post-201269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-longford"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}