Kate Brennan awarded €15,000 for unfair dismissal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Kate Brennan won an unfair dismissal complaint against Trinity College Dublin at the Workplace Relations Commission, which awarded her €15,000 in compensation in a decision reported on 4 April 2025. The WRC found her employment ended on 29 September 2023, after the college asked her to work a month’s notice following a termination letter issued on 30 August.

The adjudication officer concluded that working the notice period gave Brennan the service required to bring a claim under the Unfair Dismissals Act. Trinity had said it would concede the dismissal was unfair if the WRC found the service requirement was met; the college also had not implemented a second performance improvement plan.

Brennan was unemployed for seven months before starting a job with a salary 25 per cent lower than her Trinity salary. The officer made no award for prospective financial loss after finding she had turned down a better paid role and had not shown efforts to find further work after starting her new job. He also found her job search while unemployed inadequate, but said he had to consider Trinity’s failure to provide fair procedures; Brennan made no contribution to her dismissal.