This case involved a claim of unfair dismissal. The claimant had been dismissed by phone on the 29th December 2015 due to her unavailability to attend work. She subsequently received her P45 from the Appellant which stated that the 18th December 2015 was the date of cessation of her employment. The fact of her dismissal was not in dispute. The claimant alleged that she had been dismissed due to the fact she was pregnant and her pregnancy related illness.

The appellant claimed that the claimant had submitted a medical certificate of unfitness for work from the 17th to 28th of December 2015. They claimed that this certificate did not specify her illness. The claimant said that she subsequently received a medical certificate certifying her unavailability for work for a week from the 22nd December 2015 due to 'post d/c miscarriage'.  The appellant claimed that due to the Christmas holidays this certificate was not seen by the payroll department until the 29th of December 2015, despite being handed in to the Appellant's reception on the 23rd of December.

On the 29th December, the claimant rang the payroll administrator and was dismissed due to her unavailability to attend work. It was alleged that at this time the payroll administrator had not seen the relevant medical certificate. The appellant claimed that they were unaware of the complainant's pregnancy at the time of her dismissal and only discovered that the complainant had suffered a miscarriage following her dismissal. They advised that she could re-apply for her job when she returned to full health.

The appellant submitted that the complainant had been fairly dismissed for her unavailability for work. However, the payroll administrator stated in evidence that the staff member who instructed her to dismiss the complainant was fully aware of the pregnancy and the associated illness of the complainant. The Court, having heard the evidence before it, was satisfied that the appellant was aware, at the time of dismissal, that the complainant's illness was related to her pregnancy and miscarriage. The Court concluded that the dismissal was unfair as the operative reason for her dismissal was due to her absence through pregnancy related illness. The Court awarded the complainant the sum of €17,000 in compensation. This sum considered the lack of detailed evidence of the complainant's efforts to secure employment since her dismissal and the fact she was medically unfit to carry out her job from January to June of the year of her dismissal.

 http://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2018/April/UDD1819.html