The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Kevin Waite about €18,500 after finding that Midland Tyre Services Ltd unfairly dismissed him. The decision was dated 21 February 2023. Waite had worked for the company as a tyre fitter.
The dispute centred on a text Waite sent after objecting to the company’s daily antigen testing requirement during the Covid pandemic. He said it was sent in the heat of the moment and was not a resignation. The company treated the message as a resignation and said he had not returned to work.
The adjudicator found the company acted too hastily when it accepted the resignation. It had not investigated Waite’s position or interviewed him before sending a letter confirming the end of his employment. The adjudicator concluded that the employment ended through unfair dismissal, not resignation.
The adjudicator also found that Waite’s decision to stay away from work contributed substantially to the dismissal. Taking that contribution into account, the WRC awarded him 26 weeks’ pay, about €18,500, as redress. Waite had sought compensation for two years of losses, but his future losses were difficult to estimate while he was building a new business.