Latest in Employment Law>Case Law>Michael O’Brien v Furlong Flooring Limited t/a Furlong Flooring [2014]
Michael O’Brien v Furlong Flooring Limited t/a Furlong Flooring [2014]
Published on: 01/12/2015
Issues Covered: Dismissal
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Background

The respondent company operates a wholesale business selling various types of flooring. The claimant was a manager within the company. As a result of the economic downturn, a number of redundancies happened within the company and a decision was made to make the claimant redundant. 

The claimant was reallocated to the contracts division of the company. Following this move, the claimant told the respondent that he was not happy with the salary on offer and he wanted an increase of wages by €6,000. The respondent said the company at this time was not in a position to accept the claimant’s request. 

The respondent stated that they had no option but to make the claimant redundant. Accordingly, they paid the claimant his statutory redundancy entitlement. The respondent denied that the decision to make the claimant redundant had anything to do with the dispute surrounding the salary payment. 

The respondent admitted that during the period of the claimant’s redundancy they hired another member of staff. 

The tribunal held that the claimant was unfairly dismissed. The tribunal noted that the employer had “failed to set out a clear matrix in regards to the selection of the claimant for redundancy and failed to comply with any reasonable procedure in informing the claimant of his dismissal.” 

The tribunal had some dispute over whether the payment which was made was actually made by reason of redundancy. However, the Tribunal determined that the claimant was entitled to €27, 000 compensation. 

To read the full case review: 
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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 01/12/2015
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