The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Sean F Kelly €8,000 after finding his dismissal by Shannon Transport & Warehouse Company T/A STL Logistics unfair. The decision was dated 20 April 2023 and concerned two deliveries to Dublin’s Bridge Tavern, for which Kelly was dismissed for gross misconduct.
The employer said the deliveries were unscheduled and undocumented. Kelly said they were part of a swop arrangement, a practice he said was familiar at the company. The WRC preferred Kelly’s direct evidence and found the employer had not shown that dismissal was reasonable or proportionate. It noted that the procedures did not prohibit swops or identify undocumented deliveries as gross misconduct, and that the employer found no delivery or payment discrepancies.
The WRC accepted that Kelly was unemployed for 12 weeks before finding lower-paid work. It also accepted there was no evidence he continued looking for better-paid employment, and set compensation at €8,000 as just and equitable redress. A separate Payment of Wages Act complaint was withdrawn at the hearing.