Office and Industrial Cleaners Ltd (Represented by Irish Business and Employers' Confederation) v Ms Nicole Connolly (Represented by O'Hanrahan and Company Solicitors)

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 17 February 2020
• Judgment citation (vLex): [2020] 2 JIEC 1706
• Docket Number: FULL RECOMMENDATION DETERMINATION NO.UDD2015 ADJ-00020785 CA-00027370-001
• Date: 2020
• Year: 2020
• Court: Labour Court (Ireland)

PARTIES:

Office and Industrial Cleaners Limited (Represented by Irish Business and Employers' Confederation)

and

Ms Nicole Connolly (Represented by O'Hanrahan and Company Solicitors)

FULL RECOMMENDATION

UD/19/198

DETERMINATION NO.UDD2015

ADJ-00020785 CA-00027370-001

Labour Court

DIVISION:

Chairman: Ms O'Donnell

Employer Member: Ms Doyle

Worker Member: Mr McCarthy

SECTION 8A, UNFAIR DISMISSAL ACTS, 1977 TO 2015

SUBJECT:

1 1. Appeal Of Adjudication Officer Decision No: ADJ-00020785 CA-00027370-001.

BACKGROUND:

2 2. The Employee appealed the Decision of the Adjudication Officer to the Labour Court on 18 September 2019 in accordance with Section 8(A) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 to 2015. A Labour Court hearing took place on 11 February 2020. The following is the Determination of the Court:-

DETERMINATION:

3 This is an appeal by Nicole Connolly (hereafter the Complainant) against an Adjudication Officer's Decision ADJ-00020785 given under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 to 2015 (the Act) in a claim that she was unfairly constructively dismissed by her former employer, Office and Industrial Cleaners Limited (hereafter the Respondent). The Adjudication officer dismissed the claim on the basis that it was not well founded.

Background

4 The Complainant commenced employment with the Respondent on the 22 ^nd January 2018 as a cleaner. The Complainant worked 20 hours a week and her hourly rate was €10.40 an hour. The Complainant's employment ended on the 26 ^th March 2019 when she submitted her resignation by email stating that she was resigning on the grounds of constructive dismissal. Dismissal is in dispute so it is for the Complainant to establish in the first instance that a dismissal took place.

Complainant's case

5 The Complainant submitted to the Court that the Respondent by their actions had left her with no alternative than to resign from her job. The Complainant did not dispute the contents of the text messages submitted to the Court. It was the Complainants evidence that although she had been instructed by the Respondent not to turn up to her place of work on her next scheduled working day she attended at that place of work. It was her evidence that she wanted to know why she would not be working there in future. It was her evidence that the decision by the Respondent to call the Guards to have her removed was an over reaction and totally inappropriate. The Complainant accepted in her evidence that she was invited to go to a meeting on that day in the Respondent's head office to discuss the decision and to discuss work on another site. The Complainant submitted that she could not attend at the head office on that day as she had domestic commitments. In response to cross examination she confirmed that on the day in question she did not tell the Respondent that she had no way of getting to their head office or that she had commitments. The Complainant confirmed she sent an email a week later resigning from her position on the grounds of constructive dismissal. The Complainant accepted that she got an email from the Respondent the next day asking her to reconsider and providing her with a copy of their grievance procedure. The Complainant confirmed to the Court that she had by email two days later responded stating her trust and confidence in the Respondent had been shattered and that she would not reconsider her decision. The representative for the Complainant submitted that as the Complainant had lost trust and confidence in the Respondent an implied term of her contract had been breached and this was a repudiatory breach of the...