This case revolves around the unfair dismissal of an employee via redundancy.  The Complainant was employed as a Sales Manager for the Respondent Company.  The Complainant alleged that he was dismissed by way of redundancy which he contended was false as his position was not redundant and the role continued after he was dismissed.

Prior to his dismissal he argued his role became limited and he was frozen out by management. Following his dismissal, his work was taken over by a new employee who was engaged within a short time of his departure.

The Respondent contended that the Complainant’s position was made redundant and fair procedures were followed.  However, the Respondent failed to provide any evidence as to why the Respondent made the Complainant redundant.  The person who took this decision did not attend the hearing and so the evidence as to why the position was made redundant was not provided.

The Complainant had retained the company car after he was made redundant. After numerous requests from the Respondent to return the car the Complainant was ultimately arrested for car theft in March 2018.  The charges were not dropped until October 2018.  This in turn affected his applications in pursuing further employment.

The Adjudication Officer found that Unfair Dismissal had occurred. There was no evidence which showed that a valid redundancy situation existed.   No reasons were given as to why the CEO decided that the position of the Complainant should be made redundant.

In assessing the amount of compensation which should be awarded, the Adjudication Officer held that losses which arose due to problems associated with the threat of criminal sanction would not be considered as they did not arise from the dismissal. Accordingly, the Complainant was awarded €35,000.00 in compensation.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2019/March/%20ADJ-00011731.html