Courts / Limerick / Report

Manager at global IT firm denies company 'lied' about position of former Irish employee

Date
2026-08-26
Stage
Hearing Or Decision
Primary locality
Limerick
County
Limerick

Summary

A senior manager at a major Indian IT firm has denied that his company lied to a client about the position of a former Irish employee on a project team. Derek Canning, a former IT project manager at HCL Ireland Information Systems Ltd, is challenging his alleged redundancy under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) heard that HCL Ireland let go all seven of its staff and contractors in 2024, following a €1 million discount on a major IT project for WestRock due to delays. Canning claims he was hired as a commercial project manager for the ERP system in Ireland and the UK, while HCL argues his role was limited to Ireland and later shifted to a UK-based manager. Canning presented screenshots of organisational charts showing his role, which HCL's representative, Ram Samant, claimed were shown to the client for confidence but not the final structure. Canning accused HCL of lying, while Samant stated they were positioning, not lying. The case has been adjourned for a future hearing.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Manager at global IT firm denies company 'lied' about position of former Irish employee. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

Why: He said that because of the delays, the company decided later that year to bring in the senior technical manager, to "build the confidence of the customer" in the project. CNI source report

Case subjects

Derek Canning

Applicant

Outcome: The case, before adjudication officer Davnet O'Driscoll, has been adjourned pending the arrangement of a future hearing date.

Places mentioned

Secondary Mention

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Related court reports

Read the original CNI report

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