Truck driver awarded €17k after ‘demotion’ from manager post

A TRUCK driver who said he was made the company’s yard manager following a Christmas party, but who subsequently had the position taken off him, has been awarded €17,500 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

According to the report, Brendan Canavan from Meath was promoted from his job as a truck driver for Kilkenny Scaffolding Services in Dublin in February this year.

Mr Canavan claimed he was promoted after a conversation at the Christmas party at which the managing director told him he would like him to become yard manager.

When he took up the role he said he received no complaints about his performance and he was never told there was a trial period. He said he was not informed the change in position was temporary.

Mr Canavan said in April he was approached by the general manager and told a new yard manager was coming in the next day and he was to resume driving a truck.

He later met with company officials and was given the choice of going back to truck driving or accepting a €5,300 redundancy payment.

In response, the company said all new positions were subject to a three month trial period, though this was not presented in writing to Mr Canavan.

The managing director said he heard after the Christmas party that Mr Canavan was interested in the yard manager position, but did not suggest the position to him. He promoted the claimant and improved his terms and conditions, but he then found while Mr Canavan was good at running the yard, the man did not possess good computer skills and even after a course had to keep asking the general manager for assistance.

The tribunal said that on the respondent’s own evidence, the change in status of the claimant’s employment amounted to a demotion.

The ruling went on: “The tribunal appreciates that the respondent was a small company operating in tough economic circumstances. Very often, improvisations are required at short notice in order to secure the economic viability of a company.

“However, in this situation, the change was enforced despite the fact that the claimant was regarded by the managing director (MD) of the respondent company as a good employee.

“The MD decided to demote the claimant without regard to the necessity to be fair. In these circumstances, it was not unreasonable for the claimant to refuse to return to his previous position as a truck driver.”

The tribunal found the treatment of the claimant amounted to an unfair dismissal, and therefore, the claim under the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 to 2001, succeeds. The tribunal awarded €17,500.