The claimant was employed as a warehouse operator/process assurance operator for the Respondent company from November 2003 until April 2018 when the claimant was dismissed for gross misconduct.

The misconduct allegations related to a question raised by the claimant at a Townhall meeting where he referred to statements made by the HR manager at an Equality Tribunal hearing in February 2013. The claimant had alleged discriminatory treatment on the grounds of race, religion, family status and disability by the Respondent.

The Complainant submitted that he was unfairly dismissed and contended that the disciplinary process was merely a paper exercise.  The Complainant highlighted how witness statements were only issued during the dismissal meeting and that the statements should have been furnished in advance of the dismissal meeting.

The Respondent also failed to take proper minutes of the meeting. The Complainant had been denied his rights to be legally represented throughout the process. The Complainant maintained that the Respondent failed to properly investigate the matter, that there was lack of proper recording of events and that there were clear breaches of procedures. When he was dismissed after the investigatory meeting, he was not given a reason for the dismissal and was escorted off the premises afterwards.

The Respondent submitted that on foot of complaints received from members of staff regarding comments made by the Complainant at the Town Hall meeting they commenced a workplace investigation.

The Complainant was dismissed as a result of this investigation and the appeal was rejected. It was submitted that the words spoken by the Complainant were of sufficient gravity as to amount to a repudiation of the Complainant’s contract of employment.

In reaching their decision, the Labour Court drew its attention to the inconsistencies in sanctioning within the Respondent company and highlighted a number of procedural flaws in the processing of the claimant’s dismissal.

The Court opined that the sanction of dismissal was disproportionate in the circumstances and therefore awarded the Complainant compensation of €20,000. The Court accepted that the Complainant’s behaviour at the town hall meeting was unacceptable and took this into account when deciding the amount of compensation that should be awarded.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2019/july/adj-00015325.html