Courts / Ireland / Report

Newspaper which offered receptionist baseball bat to deal with trespasser must pay €45k

Summary

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the Killarney Advertiser must pay €45,000 to former receptionist Laura O'Regan after she was dismissed in September 2019 for making a protected health‑and‑safety complaint. O'Regan had reported that a drunken homeless man, Mr J, repeatedly entered the office, stared at her, and became verbally abusive, threatening her safety. She had requested that a gate be installed at the front desk; the managing director, Cormac Casey, dismissed the idea and allegedly offered her a baseball bat as a "metaphor" for protection. The tribunal found Casey's comment was not a metaphor and that O'Regan's dismissal was directly linked to her safety report, constituting a protected disclosure under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977. The award equated to nearly 98 weeks of gross wages for O'Regan.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Newspaper which offered receptionist baseball bat to deal with trespasser must pay €45k. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• September 2019 Other
• May 2019 Other
• 18 September 2019 Other
• 2024-10-24 Publication

Why: Because of that, despite having less than the usual one year's service, the complainant came under the protection of the Unfair Dismissals Act. CNI source report

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report