The Workplace Relations Commission found that William Dorney was unfairly dismissed and ordered Shannon Transport & Warehouse Company T/A STL Logistics to pay him €5,500 compensation. The decision was dated 20 April 2023.
Dorney, a driver with 15 years’ service, was dismissed for gross misconduct over unscheduled and undocumented deliveries to Dublin’s Bridge Tavern. The employer said he made the deliveries on three occasions, involving seven kegs. Dorney said the deliveries were part of a longstanding keg-swap practice and challenged the disciplinary process and evidence.
The WRC preferred Dorney’s sworn evidence, noting that the employer relied on written submissions and did not call its general manager, who was central to the issue. It found that the deliveries did not amount to gross misconduct and that dismissal was outside the range of reasonable responses and disproportionate given his service and the circumstances.
The WRC also found that weekly subsistence payments were expenses, not wages, and excluded them from the loss calculation. Dorney had also brought a Payment of Wages Act complaint, which he withdrew at the start of the hearing.