WRC finds Eircom dismissal of Joanna O’Neill was fair

The Workplace Relations Commission found that Joanna O’Neill was not unfairly dismissed by Eircom Limited Eir And Open Eir. Adjudication Officer Breiffni O’Neill issued the decision dated 4 May 2022. O’Neill challenged her dismissal for alleged threatening behaviour towards her line manager. She denied the allegations and questioned inconsistencies in witness accounts. The company said it investigated the complaint and held a disciplinary process before dismissing her. The WRC found the employer’s decision reasonable, relying on a witness’s later account and contemporaneous email. It also found the dismissal procedurally fair, despite concern about an in-house solicitor’s involvement, because the decision-maker had reached his decision before consulting her. The WRC assessed the fairness of the dismissal, not whether O’Neill was guilty of the alleged conduct.