Cash-in-transit worker broke Brinks ‘commandment’
However, he said no disciplinary action was taken against staff for worse breaches — including leaving over €1m cash in a van in a car park overnight.
Kevin O’Flynn, of Tay Rd, Cobh, Co Cork, who served many years in the navy, said he was shocked to be dismissed by Brinks and believed the reason was because he had raised matters related to the Cork branch with the Dublin office as he felt they were not being dealt with in Cork.
Judge Petria McDonnell said that, in other words, they would have considered him a thorn in their side.
The judge ruled in his favour and awarded him €75,920 at Cork Circuit Court for loss of earnings for the two years since his dismissal.
Costs were awarded in favour of his legal representatives, Lucy Walsh, barrister, instructed by Terry English, solicitor, who indicated that this award in respect of gross earnings would be taxable after the first tax-free €24,000.
Mr O’Flynn, aged around 50, was dismissed for breaching what was described as the sixth of the company’s 10 commandments by bringing over €50,000 from a van to a bank in one go. The commandment stated that no more than €50,000 should be carried on the street in one of the boxes that destroys the contents and sends dye exploding from it if opened incorrectly.
The company said Mr O’Flynn was dismissed for a grave breach of discipline for carrying more than five bags of cash containing a total of €210,000 to a bank ATM at Blackpool on Oct 22, 2010, and on the same date carrying €235,000 to another bank ATM in St Patrick’s Street, again in one box in one go.
Mr O’Flynn said Brinks did not care how the job was done as long as it was done quickly, and that he was dismissed for doing something that many employees did on a regular basis.
He said that in Apr 2009 he was aware of over €1m in cash being left in a van parked overnight in an unsecured area in Blarney and that no disciplinary procedure was taken against those responsible for that, which would also be described as a grave breach of discipline in the company’s documents.
The case was before Cork Circuit Court yesterday following an appeal by Mr O’Flynn and by the company of the decision made by the Employment Appeals Tribunal to reinstate Mr O’Flynn. The company appealed the reinstatement.
Mr O’Flynn brought his case to Cork Circuit Court for compensation for the two years he was out of work as a result of his dismissal.
The judge did not order reinstatement because, in light of everything, she did not believe Mr O’Flynn could now return to work in the job after all the proceedings.
Stephen O’Sullivan, for Brinks Ireland, said the company had won this part of the case as the judge did not order reinstatement.
The judge said the 10 commandments of Brinks appeared not to have constituted training and were simply handed to each employee to sign when they took up a position with the company.
Judge O’Donnell said the commandments did not appear to be bedded into the training or the ethos of the company and did not appear to be routinely observed.
