The Workplace Relations Commission found Brendan O'Sullivan's unfair dismissal complaint well founded and ordered Irish Arc Bantry Engineering Ltd. to pay him €7,856.02 in compensation. The decision was dated 23 November 2023. The adjudicator extended the time limit for the complaint before considering its merits.
O'Sullivan said he was dismissed for gross misconduct after telling a company client that he was being treated inappropriately at work. The company argued there was no valid complaint before the WRC and declined to address the substance of the case. The union believed it had submitted the complaint in December 2020, but the WRC found it had not received it then; a complaint was before the Commission by August 2021. The adjudicator accepted the union's reasons for the delay and found the company had not met its burden of proving the dismissal was fair.
O'Sullivan identified €7,856.02 in losses during periods of unemployment after his dismissal. The adjudicator was satisfied he had made sufficient efforts to reduce those losses and ordered compensation in that amount.