Granby Limited unfairly dismissed Maria Doyle and must pay her €10,400 in compensation, the Workplace Relations Commission found in a decision dated 1 February 2022. The WRC said the company changed its redundancy selection policy and did not establish a valid reason for selecting Doyle.
Doyle worked as a general operative in the sausage department. Granby said a pandemic-related downturn had led it to make redundancies and that it consulted her but found no suitable alternative role. Doyle disputed the selection, saying less senior workers were kept on and that she had sought other positions.
The WRC found that a less senior worker kept in a boggie and trolley role had no particular skills that prevented someone else from doing the work. It also noted that Granby had not carried out a risk assessment for Doyle. The adjudicator concluded that redundancy was not the primary reason Doyle left the company and found her dismissal unfair. The award was six months’ salary.