The WRC found Aoife Murphy’s dismissal by The Sims Clinic Ltd was unfair and directed the clinic to pay her €23,160. The decision was dated 5 August 2021.
Murphy coordinated the clinic’s egg donation programme, which was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, and her role was made redundant. The clinic said travel restrictions had sharply reduced the programme’s work and that the coordinator position was no longer needed. Murphy said other roles were available and she had not been offered an alternative.
The adjudicator accepted that the role was redundant but found Murphy had skills that could have been used elsewhere. The clinic had not adequately explored alternatives, including a patient coordinator role or a part-time position supporting other departments. The adjudicator found this was a serious omission and that the dismissal did not meet the requirement to act reasonably.
The €23,160 compensation was equivalent to nine months’ pay, less the €8,340 Murphy had received in statutory redundancy. The clinic had been entitled to make redundancies, but the adjudicator found it had not made an adequate attempt to identify an alternative to ending Murphy’s employment.