The Labour Court found on appeal that Alan Douglas was unfairly dismissed by Connect Trade Union and ordered €14,152 in compensation. The determination was signed on 22 February 2023. The Court had earlier found that Douglas’s repeated refusals to work temporarily from the union’s Dublin office were unreasonable, but concluded the dismissal procedure was unfair because the General Secretary initiated the complaint and made the dismissal decision.
Douglas, a union official based in Limerick, said the instruction amounted to relocation outside his contract and that the disciplinary process was unfair. Connect Trade Union said he had been asked to report temporarily to Dublin for a construction campaign, not to relocate. The Court accepted that he had not been told to relocate permanently or for an unspecified period, and found his repeated refusals unreasonable.
The Court assessed Douglas’s conduct as contributing 80% to his dismissal. It found his efforts to mitigate his losses inadequate overall, including because he made no attempt to mitigate continuing losses after July 2020. The Court assessed his financial loss at €70,752 and ordered compensation of €14,152.