Unfairly dismissed over use of expletives

A call centre worker who used expletives in an open-plan office has been awarded €12,500 for unfair dismissal.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal ordered waste firm Oxigen Environmental to pay €12,500 to customer service representative Janet Mooney.

It ruled that there was no doubt that Ms Mooney “in verbally expressing herself at work used expletives and offensive language which was unacceptable to some of her listeners”, adding: “This scenario cannot be condoned.” However, it determined that a clear warning would have sufficed for the first offence.