Courts / Ireland / Report

Garden Rooms company must pay €35k for unfair dismissal

Summary

In a 2022 case, Sherry Garden Rooms Ltd was found to have unfairly dismissed sales manager Kieran Murray, who had been told he was redundant in 2020. The company claimed the redundancy was genuine, citing a pandemic‑related downturn and a €6,744 lump sum payment. However, the court noted that the firm had posted a Facebook advert for a junior role in June 2020 and had not consulted Murray before declaring his role redundant. The judge highlighted that the company had experienced increased demand and had sold a garden room in April 2020, contradicting the claim of no work. Murray's claim of €45,000 loss was rejected; instead, the court awarded him €32,833.70 in compensation, plus two weeks' salary and €1,500 for an inaccurate start date. The decision also found breaches of the Employment (Information) Act and the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Garden Rooms company must pay €35k for unfair dismissal. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• November 2019 Other
• March 2020 Other
• April 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• June 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• September 2020 Other
• 26 May 2020 Other
• May 2015 Other
• May 2020 Other
• October 2020 Other
• 2022-04-25 Publication

Why: A bespoke garden rooms company has been ordered to pay over €35,000 to a sales manager who was dismissed because the firm said it had "no work" for him – before posting on Facebook to say it was experiencing "unprecedented demand". CNI source report

Case subjects

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report