*Timmy Dooley. Photograph: Natasha Barton
A FORMER elected member of Clare County Council “lawyered up” to counteract complaints of bullying by a female employee of the local authority.
Speaking in the Seanad during a debate on violence against women, Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) relayed details of the case which he believed highlighted weak internal procedures in Clare County Council.
Senator Dooley outlined, “A former county council employee shared a story with me last week relating to a female former colleague of his who believed she was being bullied in the course of her work by a male who was, at the time, an elected member of the council. She followed the proper procedure and made a complaint but the councillor was never brought to book or held to account”.
According to the Mountshannon native, the fact that it was a female employee of the Council ensured there was no consequences. “He lawyered up and defended himself and it seems the internal procedures were not strong enough to deal with the situation because he was not an employee of the council. The view of the person who shared the story with me was that, if it had been a man, the councillor would not have got away with it and would not have tried his hand in the first instance. He was trying to advance the case for some particular issue he was involved in but the woman felt she was bullied just for doing her job”.
Such cases undermine the confidence of women to flag instances of abuse in the workplace, Senator Dooley stated. “When other women in the workplace see that concerns are not being taken seriously, it further undermines their self-confidence. We need to resolve that because women cannot be made feel they are not being taken seriously and cannot expect a positive outcome when they are being bullied or harassed in discharging their duties in the workplace”.
Dooley concluded, “It is up to men in society to do right by women they see being undermined and abused in a sinister way by other men and to call that out. We cannot stand idly by any longer”.
