UD654/2015

EMPLOYMENT APPEALS TRIBUNAL

CLAIM OF:                                                                                                    CASE NO.

Zirunas Michailovas                                                                                       UD654/2015

against

Petrogas Group Limited

under

UNFAIR DISMISSALS ACTS 1977 TO 2015

I certify that the Tribunal

(Division of Tribunal)

Chairman:   Mr E. Murray

Members:     Mr D. Hegarty

                     Mr D. McEvoy

heard this claim at Cork on 1st June 2017 

Representation:

Claimant: Ms Aisling O'Sullivan, Philip O'Sullivan & Co, 14 Denny Street, Tralee, Co Kerry

Respondent:  Mr. David O'Riordan, Sherwin O'Riordan, Solicitors, 74 Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

Background:

The claimant in this case commenced employment with the Respondent on the 1^st of August 2012. He worked as a kitchen porter initially and by virtue of the quality of his work he was promoted to Franchise Manager in the Lusk outlet owned by the Respondents.

When the Respondents opened a new food court in Tralee, Co. Kerry the claimant was put in charge of that food court and he moved to live in Tralee.

For the next twelve months performance issues arose in relation to the management of the food court and ultimately it was indicated to the claimant that they proposed transferring him back to Lusk.

The claimant felt that he had not received adequate support in relation to the management of the food court and that he was to some extent out of his depth in relation to same and that adequate help had not been given to him by the Respondent. He was absent from work over the December/January period and on the 12^th of February 2015 the claimant wrote to his employer stating that he was resigning his position immediately due to stress. He complained that he had been demoted from his positon as General Manager unfairly and without warning and ultimately had been accused of taking money from work.

The Respondent wrote to the claimant on the 28^th of February 2015 on the following terms;

“I regret that you are expressing your wish to leave your role in Apple Green. You have been a valuable employee in our company throughout the years that you have been employed with us. Hopefully at this point you will accept our offer to meet with us and reconsider your resignation.”

The next communication appears to have been a letter from the claimant’s Solicitor dated the 16^th of June 2015 indicating that the claimant regarded himself as being unfairly dismissed.

Determination:

The claimant resigned his positon with the company. It is clear from the correspondence that there was ongoing work for him within the respondent company. In order to establish that the claimant was constructively dismissed he would have to show that the actions of his employers were so unreasonable as to justify him resigning his positon. The Tribunal is not satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to establish such a level of unreasonableness on the part of the employer as to justify the resignation of the claimant.

In the circumstance, the Tribunal finds that the claimant was not unfairly dismissed and his claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 to 2015 fails. 

Sealed with the Seal of the

Employment Appeals Tribunal

This   ________________________

(Sgd.) ________________________

     (CHAIRMAN)