Aisling O'Brien dismissed over €63.55 drinks bill

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Aisling O'Brien was dismissed for gross misconduct on 6 August 2014 following the delayed payment of a €63.55 drinks bill at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin, the Employment Appeals Tribunal heard. The proceedings were reported on 7 December 2016.

On 5 July 2014, she served cocktails to a party of six, including a former colleague. When her friend's credit card failed, she did not want her friend to feel embarrassed, so it was agreed the friend would return to pay the following day. Instead, O'Brien telephoned work the next day and paid the €63.55 bill using her own credit card.

Food and beverages manager Greg Forrestal suspended her on full pay at a meeting after the incident. After two further meetings, he referred the matter to HR. HR manager Sharon Coleman met O'Brien twice before her dismissal.

Coleman told the tribunal that O'Brien had taken the booking, served the party, failed to log the drinks order on the till and allowed them to leave without payment. She said O'Brien had breached the company's trust.

Under cross-examination by O'Brien's representative, Siptu's Hugh Hegarty, Coleman admitted that O'Brien was first verbally informed she could be dismissed on 6 August 2014, the day she was dismissed.

O'Brien appealed, but the dismissal was upheld by appeals officer Roger Russell, general manager of the then Gresham Metropole Hotel in Cork. She subsequently brought an unfair-dismissal complaint against the hotel, which was represented at the hearing by Michael McGrath of Ibec. The hearing was continuing.