The Waterford Intellectual Disability Association (WIDA) has been ordered by the WRC pay over €320,000 compensation to its “de facto CEO”, Ms O Neill, on foot of treatment she received after raising complaints under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.

The former chairman of the Board whom bullying allegations were raised against was alleged to have declared he would install an interim CEO who “hates whistleblowers”, who would run the organisation “the way the board wanted it to run, and that he would see Ms O’Neill out of WIDA before he went anywhere.

Ms O Neill commenced with WIDA in 2006 and undertook a MBA in 2011 at the request of the organisation, before being appointed as Director of Services in 2013 with responsibility for finances, human resources, service users’ needs, health and safety and training and education, and in practice performing the role of CEO, reporting to the Board.

In early 2022, Ms O Neill had notified the board of a complaint of “bullying and harassment” against the chairman and asked that this be treated as a protected disclosure.

The subsequent investigation developed into a root-and-branch review of the organisation by an external Consultant, which Ms O Neill argued was not independent and went beyond their terms of reference in making unwarranted and unjustified recommendations, resulting in a new CEO post being created and Ms O Neill being demoted, as she had been the most senior manager in place at the time as Director of Services, and its “de facto CEO.

The review also recommended that the roles of HR manager and Corporate Governance Officer, two other senior managers who “had come into conflict with the chair”, were eliminated.

Ms O’Neill then faced pressure from the chairman in late 2022 to settle a €33,000 invoice raised by the external consultant out of the charity’s funds, with the chairman incorrectly telling her the HSE had ordered the review, with subsequent invoices beings split to avoid financial controls.

Ms O Neill told the HSE she was concerned about “improperly procured services” in February 2023 and went on to make disclosures to the Charities Regulator and the National Office for Protected Disclosures later in the year.

The stand-off over the invoices continued and in March 2023, the chairman emailed Ms O’Neill directing her to pay them.

In January 2024, the chairman held a “one-minute meeting” with Ms O’Neill and told her an interim CEO would be starting the following day, and that the new appointee ‘hates whistleblowers.”

The WRC hearing was told that the old Board of Directors had stepped down, and the new board conceded all the allegations made by the complainant and offered an unequivocal apology.

The Adjudicator determined that WIDA penalised Ms O’Neill “in a most egregious manner throughout a long period” while being “fully aware” of her protected disclosures.

She was awarded €323,240 for the breaches of the Protected Disclosures Act, more than triple the previous record award at the WRC under the legislation, which can provide compensation of up to 5 years salary.

The Adjudicator further directed WIDA to quash the review reports; cease the position of interim CEO and stop any moves to appoint one; acknowledge Ms O’Neill as “de facto CEO” and offer her a “full and unequivocal apology for the mistreatment”.

This case clearly highlights the significant protection and compensation that is available to whistleblowers when cases are progressed, as well as crucially the need for clear lines of responsibility and governance to be drawn between Boards and an organisation’s management team and its operations.

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