The Labour Court dismissed C&C Gleeson’s appeal and upheld the Rights Commissioner’s compensation award to James Doherty after finding that the company penalised him for raising health and safety concerns. The determination was dated 30 September 2015.
Doherty wrote to management on 21 July 2014 about health and safety issues he believed affected his work. He said a manager received the letter and dismissed him at a meeting about two hours later. The company’s account was that Doherty had left the site and would be paid in lieu of a week’s notice.
The Court accepted Doherty’s account because the manager he said dismissed him was not called to give evidence, and the other manager was not present at the meeting. It found Doherty was dismissed immediately without fair procedures or natural justice, and that his letter was causally linked to the termination. The Court ruled that the dismissal amounted to penalisation under section 27 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.