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Car salesman sacked over 'around the corner deal' wins €10k

Date
2026-02-19
Stage
Charge Or Pretrial
Primary locality
Cork City
County
Cork

Summary

A car salesman accused of theft for buying a customer's trade-in for a higher price in an "around the corner" deal has won €10,000 for unfair dismissal. The employee, Alex Collins, was fired in November 2024 by Cork City motor dealership Kevin O'Leary Silversprings Ltd, trading as the Kevin O'Leary Group. His complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 was upheld by the Workplace Relations Commission in a decision published today. Mr Collins considered himself "a high-performing employee", as he had passed probation after joining in August 2023 and earned around €60,000 in 2024 prior to his dismissal – roughly doubling his basic annual salary of €30,000 with what he made on commission. Mr Collins came under scrutiny after a customer complained that he had been asked to park a car he intended trade-in "around the corner", company sales manager Dermot O'Sullivan said in evidence. The customer had called it "an unusual way of doing business", Mr O'Sullivan said. He said it "raised concerns about deviations from standard procedures".

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Car salesman sacked over 'around the corner deal' wins €10k. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

Why: He claimed the true reason was because the firm's management had taken the view he was "not flexible enough" following a dispute about taking leave on a Saturday. CNI source report

Case subjects

Unnamed accused

Accused

Places mentioned

Secondary Mention

Topics

Stage Charge Or Pretrial Theft

Related court reports

Read the original CNI report

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