EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
CLAIM OF: CASE NO.
EMPLOYEE UD1459/2012
Against
EMPLOYER
under
UNFAIR DISMISSALS ACTS, 1977 TO 2007
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Mr J. Lucey
Members: Mr D. Hegarty
Mr F. Dorgan
heard this claim at Cork on 20th February 2014
Representation:
_______________
Claimant: Mr Philip Comyn, O'Connor, Dudley & Comyn, Solicitors,
Westend, Mallow, Co Cork
Respondent: In person
Background:
The respondent in this case supplies labour/drivers, in the main, to a large recycling/bin collection company. The collection company provide a truck and the respondent bills them for the hours the driver collects waste. The respondent had no issues with the claimant and knew his family well.
The collection company put tracking devices on all trucks, in order to plan routes and save money. They called the respondent and were able to provide him with a data sheet containing all the breaks and stop overs for the claimant over a period of months. Some unscheduled breaks were for over one hour. The respondent showed the evidence to the claimant who didn’t deny the breaks and contended that he was doing what everyone else was doing. The respondent was a friend of the claimant since he was fourteen and hoped to be able to smooth things over but realised that the contract may be in danger. He had 25 other employees to consider. He told the claimant that he had to let him go because of a breach of trust.
An independent person heard an appeal and upheld the decision. The respondent rang other companies to try and find work for the claimant but was unsuccessful.
Determination:
The Tribunal considered this a genuinely unfortunate situation but in all of the circumstances the Tribunal is satisfied that the claimant acted in an improper manner and that his behaviour gave rise to a breach of trust and confidence which gave the respondent no option but to dismiss him.
Accordingly, the claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 to 2007 fails.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)