The Workplace Relations Commission awarded a manager €22,500 after finding his dismissal by a financial services company procedurally unfair. The decision was dated 1 August 2025 and upheld his complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act.
The manager was dismissed after an investigation found he had sexually harassed two colleagues. The adjudication officer agreed that his conduct met the company policy’s definition of sexual harassment, but found that describing it as highly severe went too far. The officer also found it unfair to rely on a 2022 incident that the company had not addressed at the time.
The officer identified serious failings in the dismissal process, including not allowing an appeal of the investigation findings, not properly considering the manager’s defence and not considering a lesser sanction. The officer nevertheless considered dismissal itself reasonable, given the conduct, but found the process flawed and unfair.
The officer estimated the manager’s loss of earnings over two years at €74,500 and awarded compensation equal to 30% of that sum. The officer found that he had contributed significantly to the decision to dismiss him. The award is subject to statutory deductions.