The Appellant brought this case before the Labour Court following a finding that he had not been unfairly dismissed. The Appellant commenced employment with the Respondent in 1994.
In June 2015, on arrival at Dublin Airport, the Appellant was stopped by customs officers who discovered that the Appellant was in possession of 2000 duty free cigarettes. The statutory limit allowed for import by members of cabin crew is 40 cigarettes. The Respondent’s Director of Employee Relations and Change was ultimately contacted by the Revenue’s Customs Enforcement Service and informed of the incident. The Respondent then stood the Appellant down from duty and informed him that a formal investigation would be commenced in accordance with the Respondent’s disciplinary policy.
The Respondent initiated an investigation meeting. After the meeting it was determined that the Appellant’s behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and that the appropriate penalty was dismissal.
The Appellant submitted that his breach of regulations did not constitute gross misconduct and even if it did, he was not aware of its classification as such due to the culture of tolerance of customs breaches that existed within the Respondent company. The Appellant held a long and unblemished career whilst working for the Respondent and was therefore of the opinion that the decision to dismiss him was disproportionate and unreasonable.
It was necessary for the Court to determine whether the actions of the employer fall within the range of actions which a reasonable employer would take in the circumstances. The Respondent submitted that the Appellant was fairly dismissed from his employment following breaches by him of both company procedures and Customs regulations. He was at all times afforded fair procedures.
In reaching their decision, the Court found that the Appellant was dismissed on substantial grounds which justified his dismissal and that consequently he was not unfairly dismissed and therefore the appeal failed.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2019/october/udd1962.html
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