Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) has agreed before the High Court not to proceed with the dismissal of a business manager who was terminated in August after she claimed her superiors instructed her to remove ten patients from the CHI spinal surgery waiting list.
Under formal undertakings made to the court, CHI also confirmed that Anita Little’s position will not be filled or advertised as vacant until further notice, reports Breaking News.
On Tuesday, Mr Justice Cregan granted an interim injunction preventing CHI from dismissing Ms Little, who became business manager responsible for administering the spinal surgery waiting list in 2024.
She alleges she was dismissed for serious misconduct after being directed to suspend ten patients from the waiting list, reports Breaking News.
Ms Little said her dismissal was the result of a flawed investigation and disciplinary process in which she was denied the right to call witnesses, present evidence in her defence, challenge inaccurate findings, or cross-examine witnesses.
Tuesday’s court application proceeded with only Ms Little’s side represented. In earlier correspondence, her lawyers had asked CHI to give undertakings not to dismiss her until she received a fair hearing, but the organisation said she had already been given one and was entitled to pursue an unfair dismissal claim, reports Breaking News.
The case returned to court on Thursday, where the judge was informed that CHI had agreed to provide undertakings consistent with the interim injunction.
It was stated that internal job advertisements for her role had been withdrawn and that external recruitment agencies had been instructed to do the same, reports Breaking News.
Mr Justice Cregan said these undertakings would be formally included in the court order.
He also postponed until Friday a separate application from Ms Little’s legal team requesting that she continue to receive her salary while proceedings are ongoing, reports Breaking News.
The judge commented that if CHI was restrained from taking any action to dismiss Ms Little, he would have assumed she was still entitled to her pay.
He said that if the matter needed to be heard the next day, he would do so, adding he was “definitely minded to keep her on salary,” reports Breaking News.
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