Roofer gets €20,000 after punch-up with boss

A FORMER roofing worker who became involved in a punch-up with his boss has been awarded almost €20,000 compensation.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal has ordered a building firm, Crown Roofing of Roundwood, Co Wicklow, to pay the compensation after it ruled that it had unfairly dismissed the employee following the violent row.

The tribunal heard there was a conflict of interest about who had thrown the first blow between the two men.

Eugene Deveney, of the Pastures, Glassnamullen, Bray, Co Wicklow, who was operations manager with the company told the tribunal that a dispute erupted with his employer, whose name was not mentioned in the report released by the tribunal, in relation to a personal matter on May 3, 2006.

According to Mr Deveney, his boss became “frantic, annoyed and in a rage” and was increasingly aggressive.

He claimed his employer ran at him, hitting him in the chest before the pair grappled, resulting in the managing director banging his head off the floor.

Mr Deveney said his boss had come after him after he had left the office and punched him in the face with a closed fist.

He was subsequently issued with his P45 nine days later without speaking to his boss again.

However, the managing director said Mr Deveney had reached across his desk and hit him and claimed Mr Deveney had rammed his boss’s head against a doorframe.

The manager also denied hitting his employee and insisted that Mr Deveney had dismissed himself from the job.

The tribunal heard that the men had a good relationship prior to the incident.

A contracts manager at Crown Roofing told the tribunal that he did not try and resolve things between the men because he knew it was pointless.

The owner’s wife gave evidence that her husband had blood on his face and that he was “a complete mess” while another worker said he had a swollen eye and was bleeding.

The tribunal ruled that the managing director had struck the first blow in the row with Mr Deveney.

As a result it awarded him €16,000 for being unfairly dismissed and a further €3,588 for having his employment terminated without statutory minimum notice.