The High Court has awarded former JVC Ireland general manager Jerome Panisi €197,000 after finding that his dismissal was presented as a redundancy but was not a genuine redundancy.
Panisi had worked for JVC from September 1991. The court found that about 90% of his role involved sales and that he had produced strong results for the company.
JVC did face genuine commercial difficulties. Its turnover in the Irish and British markets fell by about 50% between 2000 and 2008 as competitors gained ground in flat-screen television sales. Staff numbers in Ireland also fell substantially.
However, the dispute concerned whether Panisi's own position had genuinely disappeared. In March 2008 he was told that his general manager role was being removed as part of a restructuring. At the same time, JVC created a new sales manager Ireland position whose duties, the court found, closely mirrored the work Panisi was already doing.
Evidence from former JVC employee Thomas Dillon was central. Dillon said that while on holiday in April 2008, senior manager Kevin Crossland told him during a telephone call that he was effectively already the new sales manager Ireland before the formal recruitment process had concluded.
The court also accepted evidence from Dermot O'Rourke about an unminuted management discussion indicating in advance that Dillon would occupy the Irish role.
Mr Justice Charleton found that the accumulated evidence established, on the balance of probabilities, that Panisi's dismissal was not a genuine redundancy. The court said redundancy must be impersonal and cannot be used as a cloak for removing a particular employee.
Panisi had made genuine efforts to find other work after dismissal. His actual and prospective loss, including pension loss, exceeded the statutory maximum of 104 weeks' remuneration, calculated at €298,000.
JVC had already paid him €101,000 on termination. After crediting that sum, the High Court entered judgment for €197,000.