A Belfast employment tribunal has dismissed all claims brought by a former housekeeper against the company operating La Mon Hotel and Country Club. Victoria Robinson had alleged she was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against, but the tribunal found her claims of whistleblowing detriment, health and safety detriment, and race discrimination to be not well founded.

Ms Robinson was employed by Craigantlet Farms Limited from June 2023 until her dismissal on 2 March 2024. She claimed her dismissal was automatically unfair because it followed protected disclosures she made about a health and safety concern. The tribunal accepted that Ms Robinson had made protected disclosures in February 2024 regarding a cleaning product which she believed had been refilled with descaler. However, it found that the principal reason for her dismissal was not those disclosures, but rather her behaviour, including a WhatsApp message sent to her manager on 1 March 2024, which was viewed as insubordinate and undermining of the manager's authority.

In relation to a claim for detriment on health and safety grounds, the tribunal concluded that the alleged detriments did not meet the legal threshold, and in any event, any such detriments were not on the grounds of her having raised a health and safety concern.

Ms Robinson also claimed race discrimination, alleging that she, as part of a group referred to as 'Irish girls', was treated less favourably than Lithuanian staff, particularly a supervisor named Erika. The tribunal found no evidence of less favourable treatment on grounds of nationality and therefore dismissed this claim as well.

The tribunal noted that the respondent's counsel had conceded that, had this been a claim for ordinary unfair dismissal, the employer would have had severe difficulties defending it on procedural grounds. However, as Ms Robinson lacked the necessary continuous service to bring such a claim, the tribunal was limited to considering the specific claims brought. All claims were dismissed.

Victoria Robinson represented herself in the proceedings, while the respondent was represented by barrister E McIlveen, instructed by O'Reilly Stewart solicitors.