TV host Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh has dropped his employment lawsuit against RTÉ.
The allegations relate to alleged sexual harassment that allegedly occurred three years ago, and a hearing on the matter was scheduled to proceed today.
However, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was told this morning that it would not proceed and Nhi Chofay did not attend.
Her barrister, Claire Bruton, read a statement that her client “withdraws the defendant’s allegation of discrimination.”
She said they agreed to “move forward in the context of an ongoing working relationship.”
The barrister added that Ms Ní Chofaigh now fully accepts the results of RTÉ’s internal investigation into the matter.
She said no compensation was paid as part of the arrangement.
Mairéad McKenna SC, who appeared at RTÉ, confirmed the position.
A popular national host, 51, has previously spoken out about being sexually harassed at work when she got her first job at RTÉ more than 30 years ago.
However, her WRC complaint included new allegations that had not been made public before.
The Irish Independent understands that her case is different from previous complaints related to an incident when she was 18.
The recent allegations and RTÉ’s response to them were the subject of four days of hearings, after which the matter was scheduled to be withdrawn this morning.
Ms Ní Chofaigh has issued a separate High Court Personal Injury Lawsuit against the state broadcaster, and it remains to be seen whether it will progress.
There has been little movement in her case since it was filed.
RTÉ insiders knew the WRC lawsuit was coming, but its public nature remained a ‘shock’ to many of Ní Chofaigh’s colleagues.
At a preliminary hearing held at Lansdowne House in Dublin last May, it was revealed that the presenter would provide evidence of her allegations.
However, the WRC has ordered the suspect to remain anonymous.
She is under the Employment Equality Act and was involved in a July 2019 harassment and subsequent victim discrimination allegation.
Ní Chofaigh took the High Court proceedings in April 2020 and filed a complaint with the WRC a few weeks later.
At the preliminary hearing, Ms McKenna said:
The issues alleged in her withdrawn complaint predated Ní Chofaigh’s time at Nationwide, when she joined in October 2019.
The mother of four is tight-lipped about the nature of her case and told the Irish Independent she could not comment.
However, she has spoken out about previous harassment incidents.
In a 2008 interview with Newstalk, she revealed the devastating impact it had on her life.
“Nobody understood sexual harassment at the time,” she said.
“I understood it as an emotion, but I didn’t have the words to articulate it.
“I didn’t even understand what you were calling it, but someone is trying to undermine you by making you feel dirty or making sexual innuendos.
“I’ve been there, so that’s the only definition I have.
“I found myself in a very serious situation due to an internal investigation that I myself had instigated due to an experience I had with a male colleague.
“At 18, ‘Oh my god, oh my god, what happened?’ And this question was running in front of me like a machine and I had no control over it.
“I realize that I don’t know how I feel in front of the suit I was questioned about.”
Ní Chofaigh said she was very innocent when she started working for RTÉ and believed people took advantage of her.
The perpetrator in the incident is deceased and RTÉ has not released the results of its investigation.
She referred to an internal investigative report in which three individuals were named, one of whom was a “public figure.”
