More people are taking work disputes to the Workplace Relations Committee but the complexities of the system can be hard to grasp for the parties involved, writes Caroline O’Doherty.Some of the cases coming before the Workplace Relations Commission in recent times might create the impression that work brings out the worst in people.An amusement company boss takes his employee miles out to sea in a speedboat to interrogate him over missing money while emphasising the distance to shore and the likelihood of hypothermia killing him even if drowning didn’t.Two warehouse workers have an altercation over there being no milk in the canteen and insults fly, as does the subsequently purchased milk carton.A visitor centre worker and his boss have a blow-up over the former’s mistaken belief that he was being instructed to get down on his hands and knees and scrub a floor with brillo pads and the latter’s failure to clear up the misunderstanding.There appears ample material … [Read more...] about WRC cases: Trying to solve problems in the workplace easier said than done
Successful unfair dismissal cases
Ex Swans directors’ awarded combined £108k compensation after unfair dismissal
Two former Swansea City Football Club directors found to be unfairly dismissed by the club have been awarded a combined compensation of more than £108,000. A hearing took place at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court following an earlier employment tribunal - held over a week last December - which unanimously judged Steve Penny and Donald Keefe’s claims of constructive unfair dismissal were “well founded”. Judge Cadney awarded Mr Keefe £78,962 compensation, whilst Mr Penny received £30,000. Both men were given a further basic award of £10,059 each. At the so-called remedy hearing, two issues were determined by the judge. The first was whether there should be a 'Polkey deduction' - a deduction from compensation received - based on the likelihood that the claimants would have resigned in any event had they not been unfairly dismissed. The judge secondly considered a fact he said was 'not essentially in dispute' that neither Mr Penny or Mr Keefe had made … [Read more...] about Ex Swans directors’ awarded combined £108k compensation after unfair dismissal
Iain Morrison: Murrayfield arrogance leads to calls for change
0 Have your say In the early months of 2015, when David Davies was in the final act as Edinburgh Rugby’s managing director, he sacked the club’s popular manager, Lynsey Dingwall, much to the fury of the players. Davies had alienated the Edinburgh players and, when they complained to Scottish Rugby chief executive Mark Dodson, the man who had appointed Davies, he was less than sympathetic. So Edinburgh’s senior players reached out to the then president of the SRU, Ian Rankin.According to one intermediary – who, to be fair, was not actually present at the meeting – when Dodson discovered that the players had gone over his head he called them together and tore into them using language that would have shamed a navvy and underlining that there was only one boss… him.Last week, the outcome of an industrial tribunal brought by former director of domestic rugby Keith Russell, father of Scotland stand-off Finn, following his dismissal in May 2017, … [Read more...] about Iain Morrison: Murrayfield arrogance leads to calls for change
GlaxoSmithKline faces new whistleblower claims over unfair dismissal
A senior whistleblower at GlaxoSmithKline is suing the drugs giant over claims his warnings about allegedly dangerous botched IT projects were hushed up by his superiors who eventually ended his 16-year career at the company. Thomas Reilly worked around the world designing, installing and troubleshooting major IT projects at GSK production plants and at its UK and US data centres. He claims he warned for years of serious issues in IT systems in many countries that caused numerous factory shutdowns. Yet, in a lawsuit filed against the firm in the US, he says his concerns were not properly acted upon by his superiors in Britain. In one case, he says his warnings about a Latin American plant were covered up by his manager for fear of alerting auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers. GSK has faced criticism and litigation over the way it treated whistleblowers warning of corruption in China and contamination at its Cidra plant in Puerto Rico, which was subsequently shut down. … [Read more...] about GlaxoSmithKline faces new whistleblower claims over unfair dismissal
Former Swansea City directors’ claim of club’s unfair dismissal is upheld
Claims of constructive unfair dismissal made by two former Swansea City directors against the club have been upheld. An employment tribunal - following a week-long hearing last December - has unanimously judged Steve Penny and Don Keefe’s claims of constructive unfair dismissal as “well founded”, with the case now listed for a future ‘remedy hearing’ where a settlement will be decided. But claims made of age discrimination playing a part in their departures were dismissed, and the tribunal also found Mr Penny was not an employee of the football club from July 1, 2015, under the terms of a tripartite consultancy agreement between himself, Swansea City and Parc Beck Ltd. Both men had been directors of the club and members of the board which had managed its affairs, and were involved in major decisions such as the move from the Vetch Field to the Liberty Stadium in 2005. They had played a key role in helping to safeguard the future of the club in the wake of … [Read more...] about Former Swansea City directors’ claim of club’s unfair dismissal is upheld