WRC awards Jason Keyes €7,500 for unfair dismissal

The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Jason Keyes €7,500 after finding he was unfairly dismissed by Garry Ryan Transport. The WRC hearing took place on 26 June 2024, and the decision was dated 18 September 2024. Keyes said a dispute over retrieving his work van ended with late-night messages saying he was no longer needed, without an explanation for his dismissal. The company did not attend the hearing or provide submissions or documents. The adjudicator found no dismissal procedures had been followed and Keyes had not been told the reason for his dismissal. The adjudicator reduced compensation after finding Keyes’s efforts to find alternative work fell below the expected standard for mitigating his loss. A maternity protection complaint was found not well founded, a duplicate unfair dismissal complaint was withdrawn, and the WRC declined jurisdiction over a minimum wage complaint because Keyes had not requested an average hourly pay statement.