The WRC found a warehouse operative was unfairly dismissed and awarded him €5,000. The decision was dated 26 April 2018. The operative said he was dismissed after declining to identify colleagues who had been smoking outside the warehouse. The company said he had been caught smoking inside, which it treated as gross misconduct under its fire-safety policy. The adjudicator found the operative’s account more compelling; the manager who allegedly witnessed the incident did not attend the hearing, and the company gave no direct evidence to contradict his account.
The adjudicator found the dismissal substantively and procedurally unfair. The alleged misconduct had not been investigated, and the operative had no opportunity to defend himself or appeal. The WRC also awarded €741 for minimum notice and €741 for failure to provide written terms of employment. His annual-leave complaint was not well founded because he had received the statutory leave due for the relevant period.