Courts / Louth / Report

Worker sacked over punch-up with takeaway driver wins job back

Summary

Stephen Loughran, a production operator at Almac Pharma Services Ltd, has won his job back after being sacked for a punch-up with a takeaway driver in March 2025. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled that his dismissal was unfair on both procedural and substantive grounds. Loughran was involved in a physical altercation with a driver after a late food delivery, which led to his sacking. The WRC found that the disciplinary panel had made errors in the process, including the concentration of functions in the site manager and the failure to investigate inconsistencies in witness statements. The adjudicator ruled that Loughran should be re-employed as a production operator or in an equivalent post, with the period since his dismissal treated as unpaid suspension.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Worker sacked over punch-up with takeaway driver wins job back. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• March 2025 Other
• 7 March Other
• 7 April Hearing Or Sentence
• 2026-08-04 Publication

Why: The fracas broke out outside the premises of Almac Pharma Services Ltd in Dundalk in March 2025, when staff refused a food delivery because their break was finished, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) heard. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Related court reports

• Legal first sees miscarriage of justice certificate for IRA membership conviction quashed
• Lorry driver who imported €1m in cannabis jailed for five years
• Explosive device allegedly stored in National Museum at Collins' Barracks
• On-bail home invader who dragged car owner along ground has sentence cut
• Amateur fighter who 'brutally killed' allegedly abusive mother - kicking her to death and stepping on her 'lifeless body' as he left her to die - gets 6.5 years
• Jail term increased for hammer attacker who left 'Good Samaritan' grandmother blind in one eye

Read the original CNI report