The Workplace Relations Commission found that Ruth Kelleher was unfairly dismissed by the Coachman Public House and awarded her €6,480, equivalent to 12 weeks’ pay. The decision was dated 4 August 2023.
Kelleher had worked at the pub since 2005. The employer treated words she said during an upset phone call as a resignation, while she said she had not quit and believed she was being let go. The adjudicator found the employer was unreasonable to interpret her frustrated words as a resignation and should have checked that she genuinely intended to leave.
The adjudicator also found Kelleher shared some responsibility for the confusion. Her health and safety complaint was not well founded, but the Commission upheld her complaints about notice, annual leave, public holiday pay and her missing written terms of employment. It ordered the employer to pay €4,320 for eight weeks’ notice, €1,080 for untaken 2021 holidays, €120 for public holidays and €2,160 in compensation for failing to provide written terms.