Courts / Ireland / Report

School showed 'lack of respect' to secretary given no time to say goodbye to colleagues

Summary

A school secretary, Cathy Guirke, who worked at Drumbaragh National School for over a decade, has been awarded €8,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal after being given no time to say goodbye to colleagues on her final day. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that the school demonstrated a lack of respect by failing to engage in a meaningful consultation process regarding her redundancy. The tribunal ordered the school's Board of Management to pay Ms Guirke €8,000 under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, along with additional sums for other employment law breaches. Ms Guirke was informed of the redundancy just six minutes before the end of her working day, with no opportunity to prepare or say goodbye to colleagues. The WRC adjudicator, Marie Flynn, noted that while there was a genuine redundancy situation, the school did not act reasonably by failing to provide details on potential pay or hour cuts.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: School showed 'lack of respect' to secretary given no time to say goodbye to colleagues. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• March 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
• 5 March Other
• February 2021 Other
• 28 April 2021 Other
• 2024-06-07 Publication

Why: The worker explained that she had enjoyed a "wonderful" working relationship with the principal's predecessor, but that "a lot of the communication was by email" with the new appointee. CNI source report

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report