A Dundalk company that ‘‘blatantly infringed the rights and integrity’’ of a sacked employee is to have the case reheard after an error by the chairman of the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Furniture Link International Ltd, also known as Wogan’s, of Dundalk Logistics Park, Co Louth, was ordered to pay sales representative Carmel Byrne almost €40,000 for constructive dismissal after a tribunal hearing last October. The company appealed to the High Court on the grounds that the claim was for unfair dismissal, not constructive dismissal. Mr Justice George Birmingham asked Byrne’s lawyers, John McGuigan instructed by Tallaght solicitor Padraig O’Donovan, to submit a statement of facts, and the court ruled that the tribunal should hear the case again this week. Wogan’s imports and distributes furniture, and has about 73 staff. The company’s director of operations told the tribunal that Byrne, 55, was employed as an area sales representative on a gross weekly salary of €1,050, plus a yearly bonus of €5,000 if she reached her targets.
Byrne covered an area from Louth to Wexford, but said she had problems winning new accounts because of time spent in traffic. The company hired a new representative to cover the south-east of the country, but Byrne said the change could cut her sales by half and mean a €20,000 drop in her income.
Byrne, of Lindisfarne Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin, said she was called to a meeting in September 2006 where she was accused of having the worst sales record and being the ‘‘weakest link’’.
The following month, she was accused of not reaching her targets and being a liar. Byrne went on sick leave on November 6, 2006. Three weeks later, the company sacked her because of her ‘‘non-cooperation’’ with new commission rates. Tribunal chairman Penelope McGrath said the company was entitled to restructure without consulting staff, but Byrne had raised a very real fear that her income would drop.
She said the director of operations was ‘‘utterly unprofessional’’ in his dealings with Byrne. ‘‘It is only on the rarest of occasions that the tribunal will come across a situation where an employer has so blatantly infringed the rights and integrity of an employee,†said McGrath. ‘‘The applicant was forced into a situation wherein she had no alternative other than to hand in her resignation.â€Â
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