The High Court has temporarily restrained Independent Colleges Limited from implementing a letter purporting to terminate the employment of its Chief Operating Officer, Philip Burke, and from treating him as having been placed on garden leave.
In a judgment delivered on 5 November 2010, Miss Justice Laffoy said Burke had established a strong case that the purported termination communicated in a letter dated 11 October was ineffective. The ruling was made on an interlocutory injunction application, pending trial; the court did not finally decide the underlying employment dispute.
The letter, sent by Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Limited, said the Chief Operating Officer role was proposed to be made redundant from 25 October and gave two weeks’ notice. Burke’s employment contract named Independent Colleges as his employer and provided for 16 weeks’ written notice. The judge considered the letter inadequate to terminate the contract under that provision. She also was not satisfied on the evidence that the college’s chief executive had made the termination decision or had authority to do so.
Burke argued that the termination had not been decided by the college’s board in accordance with its governing documents, that the notice period was insufficient, and that he had not received fair procedures. The college disputed that a board decision was required and said its chief executive had authority to decide. It also argued that any notice shortfall could be remedied with damages, and that a challenge to the redundancy process belonged before the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
The judge said the evidence showed confusion about the roles of the separate companies involved. She noted that the college could terminate Burke’s employment if it acted properly, including by giving the contractual notice or following the statutory redundancy code. The court therefore did not prohibit a properly carried out termination.
The injunction prevents steps to implement the 11 October letter and prevents the college from treating Burke as on garden leave. The college may apply on notice to Burke to discharge the first restriction if it proves his employment has been terminated in accordance with law, or to discharge the garden-leave restriction if it proves it served notice under his contract. The court refused to restrain the college from representing or publishing that his employment had been terminated. It also directed that case management should seek an expedited trial.