A Ballybofey company was ordered to pay €14,000 to a former employee after the Workplace Relations Commission found his dismissal for alleged “gross misconduct” was based on “naive” actions rather than any intention to deceive or defraud the company.
Sterling Taylor had worked with juice producer Mulrines for around 10 years before he was dismissed over allegations of theft, dishonesty and fraud.
The case centred on Mr Taylor’s purchase of a drill and one-and-a-half kegs of Guinness Zero through a company account which allowed the goods to be purchased without VAT.
The drill was intended for use by a colleague, while the kegs were later passed on to third parties for a charity event.
Mulrines argued that the transactions exposed the company to the risk of Revenue fraud.
However, the WRC heard that Mr Taylor had not requested that VAT be excluded from the purchases.
Instead, the transactions had been suggested by an accounts employee, referred to as ‘Mr X’ during the hearing.
Mr Taylor had regularly dealt with Mr X when purchasing orange juice from the company.
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On December 11, Mr Taylor went to the office of company accountant Claire Hegarty and attempted to hand over cash for the drill, which had not been purchased for company use.
Ms Hegarty subsequently contacted financial controller John Doherty after becoming concerned about the transaction.
The WRC found that Mr Taylor had never intended to deceive or defraud Mulrines and had not sought to personally profit from either the drill or the kegs.
The commission also found that the disciplinary process which ultimately led to his dismissal was “biased and prejudged”.
Mr Taylor, who had no previous warnings, was dismissed from his role as maintenance co-ordinator by Marc Smyth.
The WRC decision stated that his “long successful career was completely disregarded”.
“He was at all times acting in a transparent manner and on the basis of information given to him by Mr X,” the decision stated.
“There was no theft and no dishonesty. No consideration was given to sanctions short of dismissal.”
The WRC also noted that Mr Smyth had told Mr Taylor that the matter was “out of my hands” when he was dismissed.
Mr Taylor was never provided with the rationale for the issues being raised against him in writing.
The WRC said the use of the phrase “out of my hands” raised concerns that the dismissal decision had effectively been made in advance and that there was little point in appealing it.
The individual who made the decision to dismiss Mr Taylor was not present at the WRC hearing.
The commission ultimately found in Mr Taylor’s favour and awarded him €14,000 in compensation.