The WRC awarded nursing-home head housekeeper Claire Butterly €12,000 after finding her dismissal by Carechoice Ltd unfair. The decision was dated 5 December 2022.
Butterly had worked for the nursing home since February 2008. Carechoice said it dismissed her for gross misconduct after she continued providing laundry help to a resident in the adjoining Village, despite an instruction to stop. Butterly said she was helping the resident; she charged €15 for a small laundry load, or more if it contained bed linen.
The WRC found she had acted improperly by failing to report the work and record transactions, but said her conduct was ill-judged rather than gross misconduct. It found the dismissal disproportionate and the disciplinary process flawed, including because dismissal was not raised in key letters and alternative sanctions were not considered.
Butterly found other work in a school from September 2020, at lower pay and for fewer hours. The WRC said it reduced compensation after considering her efforts to find work and her choice of a role with fewer hours than her previous job. It ordered Carechoice to pay €12,000.