Quinn worker 'pushed out', tribunal told

A FORMER Quinn Insurance worker felt “pushed out” of her job, was spoken to “like a dog” and had “severe panic attacks” before going to work, an Employment Appeals Tribunal heard yesterday.

Olivia Barry of Riverview, Athlumney Abbey, Navan, Co Meath, has taken a constructive dismissal case against the company (now Liberty Mutual). She worked in Kells, Co Meath, as a commercial claims co-ordinator from March 2008 until she resigned in February 2010.

Summarising the evidence given by the former employee yesterday, tribunal chairman Tom Ryan said she had claimed she was “picked on, bullied to a certain extent, harassed and ignored”. She felt the company had not dealt adequately with her complaint.

The company will call witnesses at a future hearing, the tribunal was told.

In her evidence yesterday, Ms Barry outlined the effect of the alleged treatment, including vomiting before work, severe panic attacks and taking sick days because she could not bear to go in. She said regional claims co-ordinator Ken O’Connell was “not much help” when she started and was “short and snappy” with her.

She claimed he “picked on” many letters she wrote but would not explain to her his problems with them. “He spoke down to me like I was a dog,” she said.

She said she had raised the alleged treatment by Mr O’Connell with human resources and her manager Padraig Carroll a few weeks after she started.

Ms Barry said her complaint was not taken seriously and that neither action agreed at the meeting (moving to a different desk and Ms Barry meeting Mr O’Connell) had taken place. Human resources had checked how she was by email days later and she had replied “fine”.

After a meeting with human resources and Mr Carroll, Mr O’Connell was “a little more pleasant and not snarling” but a week later “it all started again” and he found fault with much of her work. She became “afraid to ask” questions, Ms Barry said.

She also alleged Mr O’Connell sneered at her appearance one day, and changed a rule about a €100 award for processing the most claims on the month she was supposed to receive the award.

She said she was warned by Mr Carroll at her six-month review that she had to “buck up” or her job was on the line. On one occasion she had a panic attack in work and told Mr Carroll she had a kidney infection and had to go home.

After a meeting in which she was made permanent in January 2009, she thanked Mr O’Connell. He replied that if he had his way, she would not be there at all, she told the tribunal.

She also told the tribunal that leave she had requested well in advance was not approved until the last minute, and emails in her absence were not dealt with, even though this was done routinely for colleagues. In March 2009 she was moved first to motor insurance and then to an internal procedures team. She claimed she received little or no training for either role. On April 1st, 2009, she expressed dissatisfaction with the role to human resources and was told to “give it a go”. “That was the day I left,” she said .

Several meetings and emails with the human resources manager followed. In August 2009 the company occupational therapist said she was not fit to work for 10-12 weeks. She met the human resources manager again in October, and resigned on February 24th, 2010.

The case has been adjourned until April 17th.