Trinity College told to pay €15k compo for manner in which ex-worker was fired
Trinity College Dublin has been ordered to pay €15,000 to an employee over the manner in which she was fired from her job at the university towards the end of her probation period two years ago. Kate Brennan claimed she had been unfairly dismissed from her role as an executive officer from the university, where she had worked since September 5, 2022. Ms Brennan told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that no substantive reasons were provided for her dismissal when she was given notice of the termination of her employment on August 30, 2023. The WRC heard that the claimant had worked out her notice period as requested by the university until September 29, 2023. Trinity’s head of employee relations, Mary Leahy, claimed the WRC had no jurisdiction to hear the case because Ms Brennan did not have 12 months' service as required under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977. Ms Leahy said the claimant had failed her probation and explained it had run until the end of August 2023 in order to give Ms Brennan every opportunity to demonstrate fully her competence across the range of her expected role. Trinity conceded that the dismissal would be unfair if the claimant was found to come under the scope of the legislation because a second performance improvement plan had not been implemented. WRC adjudication officer, Breiffni O’Neill, noted that Ms Brennan was entitled to one month’s notice of dismissal regardless of whether she was dismissed within or outside her probationary period. Mr O’Neill said she had been asked to work out her notice period by the university until September 29, 2023, which meant Ms Brennan had the required one year’s service. He ruled that she had been unfairly dismissed by Trinity as the college had already conceded that her dismissal would be unfair if she was covered by the Unfair Dismissal Act. Mr O’Neill concluded that compensation was the appropriate remedy as Ms Brennan had already found alternative work as well as the fact that the employment relationship between the parties had irretrievably broken down. The WRC heard Ms Brennan was unemployed for seven months before finding work which had a salary 25 per cent below what she was earning with Trinity. Mr O’Neill said no award would be made in respect of the claimant’s prospective financial loss after learning she had turned down a better paid role because she would not learn to drive. He said Ms Brennan’s efforts to find alternative work during her period of unemployment were “inadequate” after hearing she restricted her job search to roles that were advertised directly by companies. Awarding compensation of €15,000, Mr O’Neill said he had to have regard for the fact that Trinity did not afford any fair procedures to Ms Brennan, who had made no contribution to her dismissal. Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
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