Courts / Sligo / Report

Hotel manager awarded €50k for unfair dismissal

Date
2022-06-30

Stage
Charge Or Pretrial

Primary locality
Sligo

County
Sligo

Summary

A former general manager of the Clayton Hotel in Sligo has been awarded €50,000 in compensation by the Workplace Relations Commission following a finding of unfair dismissal. Fergal Ryan was dismissed by Dalata Hotel Group PLC after investigations into cash payments made to workers outside normal payroll procedures, including payments to his partner, Kasia Smolinska, a former restaurant manager at the hotel. An adjudicating officer found that whilst Mr Ryan's conduct in approving such payments was inappropriate, the breaches of cash-handling policy did not constitute gross misconduct warranting dismissal. The officer noted that a reasonable employer would have issued a warning or reopened settlement negotiations rather than terminating employment. The decision also found that a letter Mr Ryan sent to his line manager, described as threatening and patronising, was properly excluded from disciplinary proceedings. The compensation award takes into account Mr Ryan's contribution to his dismissal and employment difficulties during the pandemic period.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Hotel manager awarded €50k for unfair dismissal. Charges or matters: breaching cash handling rules; unfair dismissal complaint. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

May 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
December 2018 Hearing Or Sentence
December 29th Other
11 February 2020 Other
10 May 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
January 2019 Other
Christmas Day Other
Christmas Eve Other
2022-06-30 Publication

Why: She said the Sligo Clayton's then-operations manager Noel McLeish phoned her on Christmas Eve to say he was "stuck" because the head chef's father had died and the chef could not attend work. CNI source report