Barry Naughton wins €10,000 unfair dismissal award

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

Barry Naughton won a €10,000 award for unfair dismissal from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The proceedings were reported on 29 November 2024.

The WRC found his dismissal unfair after his employer investigated discrepancies between two trackers in his work van. The company dismissed him for gross misconduct after accusing him of personal use of the van and interference with its dashboard tracker at a disciplinary meeting in December 2023.

Naughton denied unplugging the tracker and said personal use of company vans was commonplace at the firm. The company said the mileage issue alone warranted a final written warning, but that unplugging the tracker was a major breach of trust for which immediate dismissal was the only option.

Adjudicator Michael McEntee found a lack of natural justice in the dismissal process, while also finding that Naughton had made a very considerable contribution to his own dismissal by interfering with the tracker. The award was reduced by half to account for that contribution.