EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
CLAIM OF: CASE NO.
EMPLOYEE UD1065/2012
against
EMPLOYER
under
UNFAIR DISMISSALS ACTS, 1977 TO 2007
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Ms M. Levey B.L.
Members: Mr D. Moore
Mr M. O'Reilly
heard this claim at Dublin on 11th October 2013
Representation:
Claimant:
The claimant in person
Respondent:
Ms. Jennifer O'Sullivan, Ronan Daly Jermyn, Solicitors, 12 South Mall, Cork.
Respondent’s case
The respondent is a tele-sales company and the claimant was employed primarily as a sales person. The claimant commenced employment with the respondent on 02/04/07 and was dismissed on 26/06/12. An internal audit of calls was carried out by the respondent and a report issued on 06/06/12. This report showed that the claimant received 236 calls and appeared to inexplicably hang up on 185 of these calls.
The claimant was suspended with pay on 7/06/12 pending an investigation. This investigation went back on reports to March 2012 and found that the claimant consistently hung up on callers. These calls were then diverted to other agents. Compared to others the rate of hang ups for the claimant was extremely high.
The claimant admitted she had been hanging up calls. At the disciplinary meeting of 26/06/12 the claimant said she was going through difficult times personally. However this was the first time this was raised. The claimant never raised an issue about bullying or any other work problems.
The claimant was summarily dismissed for gross misconduct on 26/06/12 and a letter confirming this was issued to her on 02/07/12. This letter informed the claimant of her right to appeal but no appeal was lodged.
Claimant’s case
The claimant contended that as she was unfairly dismissed as she was not given any warnings or allowed time to improve. She told the tribunal that she had hung up the phone in the manner described by the respondent over the period investigated. However she was experiencing personal difficulties at that time. During the investigation the claimant never told the respondent about her personal problems but did raise this as an issue at the disciplinary hearing.
Although the claimant was aware of her right to appeal the decision to dismiss her she did not do so as she saw no reason to and was not thinking clearly at the time.
Determination
Having considered all the evidence the Tribunal is satisfied that the dismissal was not unfair. All of the correct procedures were followed in dealing with the claimant. The claimant acknowledged that she had in fact failed to answer calls in the correct manner and furthermore she did not avail of the appeals procedure which was in place.
Therefore the dismissal was not unfair and the claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 to 2007 fails.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)