WRC rejects unfair dismissal claim after severance agreement

The Workplace Relations Commission found Peter Nemeth’s unfair dismissal complaint against R3 Corda Ireland Limited failed because he had lawfully agreed to waive his right to bring the claim. The decision was dated 27 October 2022. Nemeth said he was unfairly selected for redundancy after about 21 months as a software engineer. The company said it was restructuring and that he had signed a severance agreement after getting independent legal advice. The agreement provided a lump sum of about €17,000, including notice, annual leave entitlements and an ex-gratia payment. The adjudication officer accepted that Nemeth had received independent legal advice and agreed that the severance agreement should stand. The WRC therefore found that he had waived his right to bring an unfair dismissal claim.