Labour Court reduces Pat Murphy’s final warning to written warning

The Labour Court reduced Pat Murphy’s final written warning to a written warning after the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union appealed the Rights Commissioner’s recommendation. Its decision was dated 2 April 1998. Murphy and his colleague, Frank Wallace, missed a train from Cork to a union-related meeting in Dublin, drove there but could not find the venue, and returned to Cork. Their employer, Apple Computer Ltd, issued both workers final written warnings after investigating their non-attendance. The Court did not accept the workers’ account and found their lack of candour during the investigation aggravated their misconduct. It considered Murphy slightly less culpable than Wallace, whose final written warning remained in place. The Court raised concerns about withdrawing release facilities for union business, but made no change after the company assured it that the workers’ shop steward functions would not be restricted.