Vinicius dos Santos' unfair dismissal complaint against Apple adjourned at WRC
This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.
The Workplace Relations Commission has adjourned Vinicius dos Santos' complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 against Apple Distribution International Ltd after the company began its defence. Dos Santos was sacked for gross misconduct from his €55,000-a-year job as a legal specialist at Apple's offices in Cork. Adjudication officer Úna Glazier-Farmer said she would hear evidence from dos Santos and his colleague Robertha Abreu on the next scheduled hearing date.
The tribunal heard that dos Santos worked on a team of Portuguese-speaking contractors and staff in Apple's privacy department. Paul Crowley, an Apple employee relations manager, said that in December 2024 he was told Abreu had complained about "inappropriate remarks". Her five-page grievance raised 18 separate issues covering a period back to July 2024. Crowley said these included an allegation that around September 2024 dos Santos referred to Abreu and a female contract worker as "vagabundas" and "putas", Portuguese words translating to "tramps" and "whores". Abreu wrote that when she confronted him, he "tried to deflect and said [he] hadn't meant it towards [her] specifically". These were allegations in the grievance, and dos Santos's evidence has yet to be heard.
Arthur Cush BL, for dos Santos, argued that the team was "regularly engaging with each other with inappropriate comments" and that this pointed to "a relaxed, informal and somewhat vulgar working environment". Crowley said he did not know about "regularly". He said dos Santos had sent him screenshots of messages in which the contract worker used an offensive slur about him in Portuguese. Crowley agreed that this was completely inappropriate and said steps were taken to address it, and that the contract worker was no longer working with Apple within weeks of the process concluding. He said his focus was on Abreu's complaints and that she was entitled not to want such language used around her or directed at her.
Crowley recommended that the matter go to a disciplinary process, chaired by Aidan Buckley. Buckley decided that immediate dismissal for gross misconduct was in order for breaches of the company's bullying and harassment policy and its business conduct policy. The sanction was upheld on appeal.