Courts / Ireland / Report

Lidl ordered to pay €16k for unfairly sacking worker suffering with depression

Summary

A Lidl worker, Kamil Goljanak, who suffered from depression, was disciplined in absentia and dismissed after missing emails that claimed he had failed to submit sick notes. The supermarket argued it had no contact with him during a two‑month unexplained absence and that it had followed its absence notification process. However, the Workplace Relations Commission found that Lidl Ireland had a medical note on file that was not mentioned in the investigation report that led to the dismissal. Goljanak had provided sealed envelopes with his medical certificates to a former colleague, who was instructed not to send them to HR. The tribunal concluded that the dismissal was unfair, noting the presence of a sick note in the employee's file, and awarded €16,000 in compensation.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Lidl ordered to pay €16k for unfairly sacking worker suffering with depression. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• May 2021 Other
• 7 June 2021 Other
• July 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
• 19 May 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
• April 2021 Other
• 2023-04-28 Publication

Why: In evidence to a hearing in January, Mr Goljanak said that because of his ill health, and because he argued it was "unusual" to get correspondence by email from his employer, he was not monitoring his company email address from 19 May 2021, when he went out sick. CNI source report

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report