Astronomy Ireland founder David Moore has abandoned a tribunal hearing into claims of workplace rights breaches by a former manager at organisation who has accused him of \u201cpocketing\u201d money meant for it.<\/p>\n
A Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator told Mr Moore his approach to the case \u2013 which has been repeatedly adjourned since last June \u2013 had the appearance of \u201cdelay, delay, delay\u201d so the matter would \u201cnever be heard\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Moore and a solicitor acting for Astronomy Ireland stood up and walked out of a hearing room on Friday when the adjudicator said he intended to press on with hearings despite renewed objections from the respondents.<\/p>\n
The claimant, Sonya Martin, worked at Astronomy Ireland\u2019s office in Ballycoolin, Dublin 15, from 2021 to July 2023, when she quit her job as manager. She says she was forced to resign as a result of workplace stress and concerns she had about financial arrangements at Astronomy Ireland which she said she raised with Mr Moore in 2023.<\/p>\n
She has made complaints under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, and the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 against the science organisation. Mr Moore was told he and three other members of Astronomy Ireland\u2019s management committee were being attached personally to the case in January of this year.<\/p>\n
Ms Martin gave evidence last year that she felt she had no choice but to resign in the wake of a \u201cheated\u201d meeting when Mr Moore told her the organisation had no board \u2013 something she believed made her \u201cparty to a fraud on the State\u201d, as she had applied for grants on the basis that it did.<\/p>\n
She said she was already suffering from workplace stress following months of pressure while she worked two jobs in the wake of the sacking of a junior employee who was alleged to have stolen cash and left \u201cfaecal matter\u201d and \u201cejaculate\u201d behind in a bathroom at Astronomy Ireland\u2019s offices.<\/p>\n
After pressure from Astronomy Ireland\u2019s management committee about the amount of money in the society\u2019s bank accounts, a junior administrator raised concerns that Mr Moore was in the practice of \u201cpocketing\u201d speaking fees which were meant to be the society\u2019s main revenue stream, Ms Martin said.<\/p>\n
Mr Moore, who is well known for his press and media appearances on space exploration and astronomy, claimed last year that the society had been \u201clibelled\u201d before the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), branding accusations of money going astray and financial irregularities as \u201cfalse\u201d. <\/p>\n