This case illustrates the importance for an employer to establish that any dismissal of an employee must be justified. The Complainant worked as a waiter for the Respondent and was advised by the Respondent that he was not permitted to return to work after the 1st of January 2018. The Complainant had not been provided with any written explanation for this decision.

Various reasons were given to the Complainant for his dismissal which caused significant confusion. He had been informed that his work was unsatisfactory on numerous occasions during 2017. He was also told that there were no hours for him due to a reduction in volume of business and the Respondent also informed the Complainant that their intention was to employ only female staff. The Complainant maintained that if the Respondent wished to dismiss the Complainant on these or any other grounds, he should have been afforded a proper process that would have put the grounds to him and would have allowed him the opportunity to put forward his case, to be represented and to have a right to appeal.

The Respondent argued that the Complainant left his employment as he wanted more working hours. On the 31st of December 2017, the Complainant had communicated his intention to leave the business to his own manager when he was informed about the upcoming reduction of hours. The Complainant had also failed to show up for his shift that night and did not answer any telephone calls. Therefore, the Respondent assumed that he had simply left his employment in line with what he had communicated to his manager previously and so was omitted from the next roster.

The court concluded that unfair dismissal had occurred owing to the absence of any substantial grounds to justify the dismissal. In reaching its determination, the Labour Court noted that there had been no response to a letter sent by the Complainant to the Respondent in which he stated how he was fired.  The court opined that the Respondent had ignored their opportunity to revert to the Complainant to clarify his position and that he was not in fact dismissed. This decisive factor combined with the non-inclusion of the Complainant on the January roster further substantiated that the Complainant had been unfairly dismissed. Accordingly, the Court awarded compensation of €3,000.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2019/April/UDD1914.html