WRC awards Petr Kunert €3,000 for unfair dismissal

The Workplace Relations Commission found Petr Kunert’s unfair dismissal complaint against Driver Leasing Europe Ltd. well founded and directed the company to pay him €3,000. The decision was dated 8 November 2023. The WRC found Kunert was dismissed without a proper or fair process. Kunert worked as a truck driver and was dismissed in March 2022 after taking sick leave. The company said he had failed to provide medical certificates and that a letter he sent to clients about insurance damaged its business. Kunert said he had submitted certificates and received no warning or chance to respond before dismissal. The officer found Kunert had not been given an opportunity to answer the certificate allegation, and that the client letter was not even mentioned in his dismissal letter. The officer was not satisfied Kunert had financial loss from the dismissal, noting he had been unable to work before and after it. Two separate working-time complaints were also found not well founded because they were referred outside the six-month time limit and there were no reasonable grounds to extend it.