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Plumber marked as 'trouble maker' and sacked for refusing to do 'inherently unsafe' work awarded €28k by WRC

Summary

The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Ryan McMullan €29,366 in compensation against Dallan & Co Mechanical Services Ltd. Adjudicating officer Emile Daly found the employer's conduct "egregious" and "cavalier" after McMullan was dismissed for refusing to use a handheld SDS drill lacking an impact mechanism. The WRC determined this constituted penalisation under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, noting a colleague had recently suffered an eye injury using the same defective tool. The tribunal also upheld a separate complaint under the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016, finding it "entirely unfair" for the company to pressure McMullan to reduce his statutory leave entitlement. The decision, which accepted McMullan's evidence as uncontested after the employer failed to appear at the final hearing, ordered the payment of €28,000 for the safety-related penalisation and €1,366 for the paternity leave breach. The adjudicating officer emphasized that McMullan was entitled to refuse inherently unsafe work and leave the site to avoid injury, citing that the employer was already on notice of the specific risks associated with the equipment.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Plumber marked as 'trouble maker' and sacked for refusing to do 'inherently unsafe' work awarded €28k by WRC. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• September 2020 Other
• 23 September Other
• September 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
• November 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2022-12-13 Publication

Why: In reply, Mr Dallan told him he was being dismissed because he had "left site without telling anyone" and due to "issues with the management", Mr McMullan said. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

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Stage Trial

Read the original CNI report