Nurse challenges purported termination of employment at Dublin nursing home

A nurse has launched High Court proceedings challenging the purported termination of her employment by the owners and operators of a 144-bed south Dublin nursing home.

The action has been brought by Divya Jayarajan, who last January commenced employment as Director of Nursing with FFNH Limited, which trades as The Four Ferns Nursing Home, in Foxrock Co Dublin.

The employer is part of the Integrated Elder Care Group, which owns several nursing homes in Ireland.

She claims that things went well after she started working at what was described in court documents as a luxury and demanding nursing home.

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In an affidavit to the court, she claims that last month she was, without any notice, summarily dismissed from her job and was “escorted off” the nursing home.

She said she has not been formally told why her employment has been purportedly terminated.

The purported termination, she claims, has been carried out in the complete absence of any fair procedures and in breach of her contract of employment.

The plaintiff from Newbridge, Co Kildare, believes that she is being “scapegoated” for a negative review given by Hiqa following an inspection of the nursing home last September.

The High Court heard that the issues identified by Hiqa, which included governance, residents rights, fire safety and contract of care, were matters she is not responsible for.

She sought an internal appeal against that decision.

As part of that process, she raised some serious issues about how she had been treated during the course of her employment.

The issues raised included that she had been pressurised by the home’s senior management on the day of the Hiqa inspection, which she said had been ignored.

She also raised an incident where she claims she was subjected to “racist comments” by another member of staff, which she also claims was ignored by management.

She claims that her appeal was not properly dealt with.

She claims that during the appeal her employer gave her a prepared letter of resignation to sign.

She did not sign the letter and said she had never offered to resign.

Following the appeal her employer held that her employment had been terminated, and the court heard that the defendant has offered certain payments to her.

She has at all times contested the decision to dismiss her and was recently been informed that somebody else had been appointed to carry out the role she held at the defendant.

The plaintiff’s lawyers told the court that her health has been adversely affected by what has happened to her.

She also fears that the wrongful termination of her employment will have a detrimental effect on her professional reputation.

She has sued her employer and is seeking various orders and declarations from the court including a declaration that she remains employed as the defendant’s Director of Nursing and damages.

At the High Court on Wednesday Mr Justice Mark Sanfey granted the plaintiff, on an ex parte basis, a temporary injunction restraining the defendant from appointing or purporting to any person other than her to her position with the defendant.

The judge agreed that if what the plaintiff claims is correct then the alleged breach of her contract of employment would be “most egregious”.

However, the judge noted that mediation of the dispute appears to be an option.

He encouraged the parties to seek to resolve their differences through that process.

The judge adjourned the matter to a date in January.

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