Former employee awarded €15k for wrongful dismissal

The country’s leading manufacturer of PVC windows and doors has been ordered to pay a former employee €15,000 in compensation for wrongly firing him over his refusal to sign a letter and his leaving the factory grounds for 20 minutes.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal ruled that Futura Frames based in Bandon, Co Cork, acted excessively in its decision to sack the worker in such circumstances. The EAT said the actions of Vincent Shorten were not of sufficient gravity to warrant dismissal, despite the fact that he had a poor disciplinary record and was on a final warning at the time of his sacking.

Mr Shorten of Sunmount, Upper Coolfada, Bandon, had worked with the company for 11 years before his dismissal on May 14, 2010. Earlier that month Mr Shorten, who was on short time, turned down the offer of an extra day’s work on the Friday of a bank holiday weekend. He subsequently refused to sign a letter prepared by Futura Frame’s production supervisor which was drafted to note that he had been offered a day’s work and to advise him that the relevant Government department would be informed that work had been available to him.