EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL
CLAIM OF: CASE NO.
John Benedict De Lara - claimant
UD601/2015
against
The Royal Hospital Donnybrook - respondent
under
UNFAIR DISMISSALS ACTS 1977 TO 2007
I certify that the Tribunal
(Division of Tribunal)
Chairman: Ms O. Madden B.L.
Members: Mr G. McAuliffe
Mr Al Butler
heard this claim at Dublin on 24th May 2016, 6th & 7th September 2016 and 24th April 2017
Representation
Claimant: Mr. John McGuigan BL instructed by:
Padraig O'Donovan Solicitors, Abberley Law Centre, Tallaght, Dublin 24
Respondent: Mr Paul Rochford, IBEC, Confederation House, 84/86 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2
The determination of the Tribunal is as follows:
Background
The claimant, a nurse, worked for the respondent from 1 January 2005 until he was dismissed on 26 November 2014. On 14 July 2014 the Director of Nursing suspended the claimant with pay when she discovered that he had appeared in court on charges of possessing crystal methamphetamine and obstructing the Gardaí. The respondent commenced an investigation into the claimant’s behaviour and thus opened a disciplinary process that ultimately led to his dismissal.
Meanwhile the claimant’s registration as a nurse was suspended by Order of the High Court. In March 2016 the NMWB found that the claimant should be removed from the register of nurses. This decision was confirmed by the High Court in January 2017.
The claim before the Tribunal is for unfair dismissal. The Tribunal was at all times willing to hear the entire case but when the question of the claimant’s loss arose the Tribunal asked the representatives to make submissions on the matter. Both representatives agreed to the Tribunal treating the question as a preliminary issue.
The claimant is seeking compensation for loss of earnings, in the event that the Tribunal find that he was unfairly dismissed, for the period between his dismissal and the date on which his name was removed from the NMWB register of nurses.
Determination
The Tribunal was at all times willing to hear this case in its entirety. However both parties requested that the Tribunal make a decision on the preliminary issue of the claimant’s loss.
Section 7 (1) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 states
Where an employee is dismissed and the dismissal is an unfair dismissal, the employee shall be entitled to redress consisting of whichever of the following the rights commissioner, the Tribunal or the Circuit Court, as the case may be, considers appropriate having regard to all the circumstances:
(a) Re-instatement…
(b) Re-engagement…
(c) Payment by the employer to the employee of such compensation…
Having carefully considered both the written and oral submissions of both the claimant and the respondent and having considered in particular Section 7 (c) (1) of the Unfair Dismissals Act, the Tribunal is not satisfied that the claimant has shown actual financial loss in relation to his dismissal. Accordingly, the claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007 is dismissed.
Sealed with the Seal of the
Employment Appeals Tribunal
This ________________________
(Sgd.) ________________________
(CHAIRMAN)