''We were proud to represent our client in this Unfair Dismissal Case brought before the Workplace Relation Commission.''
A sales executive has been awarded over €329,000 for unfair dismissal after being sacked without a formal warning over bullying allegations. The award is understood to be the largest ever made by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) being more than double the previous record award.
The man had worked for the firm since December, 2016 and was promoted to enterprise account executive in April 2019 – but was dismissed five months later on the grounds of serious misconduct after he was accused of bullying.
Daniel Johnson of Johnson & Company Solicitors, who appeared for the complainant, said the investigation was not properly isolated from the disciplinary process. His client was not afforded the opportunity to cross-examine the two men who made allegations against him at the disciplinary hearings, Mr Johnson said and that the process failed to take into account his personal relationship with one of the colleagues.
Mr. Johnson said there was no formal warning issued, contrary to the employee handbook, and the precise grounds were “unclear in the dismissal letter” and “did not explain what behaviour was either ‘aggressive’ or ‘extreme’,” counsel submitted. He said the complaints made by his client’s line manager and colleague were “vague and implausible as examples of bullying and harassment” – and it was clear that a decision had been made “well in advance of his ultimate dismissal”.
The adjudicating officer Breiffni O’Neill found the dismissal of the sales executive was “both substantively and procedurally unfair” and that he was therefore unfairly dismissed and awarded him €329,199, the maximum possible.
