The High Court has dismissed a claim by former Jabil Global Services employee Michael Maher for damages over psychological injury which he said arose from stress, pressure and his treatment at the company’s Clonshaugh operation.
Mr Maher worked as a supervisor before being promoted in 2001 to shift manager on a rapidly expanding Dell production programme. He claimed management placed him under excessive pressure to meet unrealistic targets. He later went on sick leave suffering symptoms which were ultimately diagnosed as stress rather than heart disease.
Mr Justice Clarke rejected the claim that the demands placed on Mr Maher during this period were excessive or unreasonable. The court found no expert evidence showing that the production targets were unachievable and accepted evidence that management’s monitoring of the expanding operation was consistent with competent management.
Mr Maher returned to work in January 2002 after Jabil’s doctor advised that he should initially be placed in a less stressful role. He was assigned to work on what was known as the Nortel Shelf.
Mr Maher alleged that this amounted to a humiliating “non job” and that management effectively sought to force him out. Jabil disputed that account. The judge found no concerted attempt to exclude Mr Maher and concluded that the Nortel Shelf role carried genuine responsibilities, although it was less demanding than his previous work.
The court accepted that Mr Maher had suffered a genuine mental-health injury and that his workplace experiences caused it. The decisive legal question, however, was whether that injury was reasonably foreseeable to his employer and whether Jabil had failed to take reasonable care.
Mr Justice Clarke found no breach during the Dell period because management had no reason to know that Mr Maher was particularly vulnerable before he went on sick leave. After his return, Jabil knew of that vulnerability, but the court found that it provided an appropriate role and counselling arrangements and was not negligent in its response.
The claim was therefore dismissed.