The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) directed Scoil Mhuire Community School in Clane to pay teacher John (Sean) Brilly €20,000 after finding his dismissal unfair. The decision, dated 11 May 2022, said the school denied him fair procedures by disciplining him after complaints he had raised about ICT activity were found unsubstantiated.
Brilly was dismissed after a disciplinary process that followed his complaints about colleagues. The school said an investigation found the complaints unsubstantiated and argued that it had followed a fair process. Brilly said he had raised legitimate concerns and that the investigation and disciplinary process were flawed.
The WRC found that the school should have investigated Brilly’s actions separately, rather than moving directly to a stage-four disciplinary process. That escalation prevented an open, fair and impartial process, and the dismissal fell outside the range of reasonable responses available to an employer.
The WRC noted losses of €50,403.57, excluding social welfare payments, but said Brilly’s five job applications were not enough to mitigate them. It said he should also have looked for work outside his profession and directed the school to pay €20,000 compensation.