The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Linda O'Shea Farren €55,000 in compensation after Contemporary Music Centre CLG conceded her dismissal was unfair. The WRC decision was dated 24 January 2024.
Farren had worked as the organisation’s Projects, Programmes & Events Manager from February 2017 until she was summarily dismissed in September 2022. The dismissal came on the day she was told a third-party investigation had found she had no case to answer.
The WRC found the employer had followed no dismissal procedure, ignored its handbook process and failed to provide written reasons after Farren requested them. It rejected the employer’s arguments that her conduct contributed to the dismissal or that she had contributed to her financial loss, and found she had made reasonable efforts to find work.
The officer declined to order reinstatement or re-engagement, citing the small organisation and fractured working relationships. Instead, the €55,000 compensation was assessed for financial loss, based on Farren’s €44,000 annual salary and her actual and estimated future loss.