The High Court found that Iarnród Éireann – Irish Rail was bound by a voluntary severance offer accepted by former employee Michael Browne, holding that the company had breached its contract. The court did not decide what specific relief Mr Browne should receive; it invited further submissions on that issue.
Mr Browne said he accepted the offer in September 2006. The judgment records that the company had first sent him a severance estimate that expressly said it was not a promise. A later document was headed “Voluntary Severance Offer” and omitted that warning. Mr Browne signed it on 11 September, with a proposed retirement date of 29 September 2006, and the form was witnessed by a company employee.
Mr Browne’s evidence was that he understood he would leave work and receive the package. On 22 September, his manager told him the severance had not been approved and that he should return to work after annual leave. Mr Browne returned and remained employed until his ordinary retirement in 2009.
Company witnesses described an internal requirement for a positive business case, approved by senior management, before a severance package could proceed. The court heard evidence that no business case had been prepared or approved for Mr Browne. The judge nevertheless found that Mr Browne had no reason to know this when the formal offer was made, and that the signed offer did not reserve a right for the company to reject his acceptance later.
The judge concluded that the offer and acceptance made the agreement binding. Mr Browne’s continued employment did not change that conclusion: the court accepted that he had effectively been required to return and that it was unrealistic to expect him to leave amid the uncertainty created by the company.
The judgment determines contractual liability. It does not specify a payment or other remedy. The parties were invited to make further submissions on the relief due for the breach.