The Labour Court reduced an unfair dismissal award against Tolerance Technologies Limited from €35,000 to €20,000 on the company’s appeal. In a determination dated 12 December 2016, it found that Joe Foran’s Operations Manager role was genuinely redundant but that his dismissal was unfair.
Tolerance Technologies said business difficulties, including the loss of major contracts, led it to restructure and make the role redundant, with the managing director taking over Foran’s duties. Foran said he was not adequately consulted or given a fair chance to propose alternatives. The Court found the company made little effort to consult and gave him no appeal route. It concluded that the company’s conduct in dismissing him was unreasonable despite the genuine redundancy, and directed it to pay €20,000.