Case Number: UDD218. Labour Court

• Court: Labour Court (Ireland)
• Judgment Date: 01 January 2021
• Docket Number: UDD218

FULL RECOMMENDATION ; UD/19/204; ADJ-00012876 CA-00016978-001 DETERMINATION NO. UDD218 ; SECTION 8A, UNFAIR DISMISSAL ACTS, 1977 TO 2015 ; PARTIES : WINTHROP ENGINEERING AND CONTRACTING LTD; (REPRESENTED EDWARD WALSH B.L., INSTRUCTED BY HBMO SOLICITORS); - AND -; MR KIERAN DONAGHER; (REPRESENTED BY HRS CONSULTANTS) ; DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Haugh Employer Member: Mr Murphy Worker Member: Ms Treacy ; SUBJECT : 1. Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No: ADJ-00012876 CA-00016978-001 .; BACKGROUND : 2. The Employee appealed the Decision of the Adjudication Officer to the Labour Court on 9 October, 2019 in accordance with Section 8A of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 to 2015. A Labour Court hearing took place on 15 December, 2020. The following is the Determination of the Court:-; DETERMINATION : Background to the Appeal This is an appeal by Mr Kieran Donagher (‘the Complainant’) from a decision of an Adjudication Officer (ADJ-00012876, dated 2 September 2019) under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 (‘the Act’). The Adjudication Officer decided that the Complainant’s complaint of constructive unfair dismissal, referred to the Workplace Relations Commission on 23 January 2018, was not well-founded. The Complainant’s Notice of Appeal was received by the Court on 9 October 2019. The Court heard the appeal in Dublin on 15 December 2020 during which it received sworn evidence from the Complainant and from Mr Ciaran Morgan, HR Director with Winthrop Engineering and Contracting Limited (‘the Respondent’). The Factual Matrix The Complainant was employed by the Respondent as an electrical supervisor. He commenced this employment on 1 November 2016 and resigned on 4 January 2018 citing his dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Respondent had dealt with allegations of bullying and harassment raised by the Complainant (originally in July 2017 and again in November 2017) against his line manager, Mr A. For the duration of his employment with the Respondent, the Complainant was assigned to a large infrastructural project in Amsterdam which consisted of the conversion of a number of warehouses into data centres including all construction works and electrical and mechanical fit-out. The project comprised a number of separate but linked buildings with a number of different handover dates for different phases/stages in each building. The Complainant’s annual salary was €65,000.00. While working abroad on the Respondent’s behalf, he received a weekly subsistence payment of €160.00 and accommodation was provided for him by the Respondent. His employer also paid for return flights to Dublin once a fortnight. ...