There was nothing sinister in the Health Insurance Authority maintaining "a voluminous file" on the performance of one of its employees, a judge said yesterday.
Mr Justice Esmond Smyth, who is hearing claims of bullying and harassment by the authority against a 33-year-old former clerical assistant, told the Circuit Civil Court she could have been sacked after only a month. He said Joanne Hickey, Parkview Avenue, Harold's Cross, Dublin, was still on probation when she was dismissed in March 2004.
Ms Hickey alleges she had been bullied and harassed to such an extent by her immediate boss, Imelda Gallagher, that she had been left in a state of emotional exhaustion.
Dr Brian Aylward, an expert in procedures in relation to bullying and harassment, told Marguerite Bolger, counsel for the authority, he was involved in harassment investigations in the public sector. He described the authority's procedures in dealing with Ms Hickey's case as one of the most meticulous he had seen.
Dr Aylward said he doubted if Ms Hickey's performance would have been tolerated for any amount of time anywhere else, or if someone in a probationary period would have received the same amount of attention, mentoring and extraordinarily fair treatment as had been given to her by the authority.
He told Síle O'Kelly, counsel for Ms Hickey, he could see no logic in the suggestion the authority had deliberately "built" a case against Ms Hickey whom it could have sacked at any time.
He had been impressed with Ms Gallagher's professionalism. "I can't see anything in her behaviour which constitutes bullying at all. I would say her behaviour towards Ms Hickey was considerate," he said.
Dr Aylward said it was important for employers to pay particular attention to the work performance of staff during the probationary period as once they became permanent it often took a long and elaborate procedure to get rid of them. Once permanent, they tended to sit back in the pattern and comfort of permanency.
Ms Gallagher, the authority's corporate affairs manager, said Ms Hickey had been one of 120 applicants for the job of clerical officer for which 26 people had been interviewed. Her curriculum vitae had claimed excellent organisational and typing skills.
She said Ms Hickey's typing contained an unacceptable level of typographical errors requiring documents having to be carefully checked, corrected, retyped and reviewed, adding an extra layer of clerical work to her job as manager. Her computer skills had not been all they should have been and she had organised computer training for her.
Ms Hickey had joined the authority in August 2003 and had been dismissed in March 2004 after attempts to allow her improve performance had failed. Ms Gallagher said Ms Hickey had been treated no differently from any other member of staff.
A judgment is expected today.