Courts / Longford / Report

Farmer accused of stealing waste flour was unfairly dismissed, WRC rules

Summary

A farmer from County Cavan has been awarded €13,400 by the Workplace Relations Commission following a finding of unfair dismissal. Padraig Cunningham was dismissed from Pat the Baker Unlimited, based in Granard, County Longford, in May 2020 after being accused of stealing waste flour from the facility. Mr Cunningham maintained he had removed the material, which included flour and waste dough, to prevent it entering the animal feed chain and had composted it on his own land. The company contended the waste could be sold for processing and that Mr Cunningham lacked authorisation to remove it. An appeal of his dismissal was subsequently upheld by management. However, adjudicating officer Marguerite Buckley determined the disciplinary process failed to comply with fair procedures and natural justice principles. She noted the practice was widely known within the organisation, no written warning had been issued, and Mr Cunningham's 24 years of service merited consideration. The commission concluded dismissal fell outside the range of reasonable responses available to the employer.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Farmer accused of stealing waste flour was unfairly dismissed, WRC rules. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

• April 2020 Other
• 17 May 2020 Other
• July 2020 Other
• 2022-06-22 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Charge Or Pretrial Theft

Related court reports

• Shillelagh attacker has prison term more than doubled
• Inmate further jailed for attack on officer in women's prison
• Garda officer subject to false allegation wins promotion delay case
• Senior garda subjected to false accusations over dog shooting challenges promotion issue
• Drug-driver fails in bid to overturn conviction based on omission of word 'or' in legislation
• Woman sat on fellow prisoner during assault

Read the original CNI report