‘Shell-shocked’ bullying victim awarded €17.5k

A bullying victim left "shell-shocked" after suffering verbal abuse from his boss and being suspended has won a €17,500 award in an unfair dismissal case.

It follows an Employment Appeals Tribunal ruling that Darren Young was unfairly dismissed by Mayo pharmaceutical Bioshell Teoranta.

Mr Young told the hearing he was working in a “toxic situation” at work where his boss, a managing director at the firm, constantly shouted at him over a three-hour period on August 10, 2011, and called him incompetent.

Mr Young — who worked as the quality assurance manager — said he was told he had not upheld the industry-wide ISO standard. As a result, Mr Young was told he was suspended.

Mr Young told the tribunal in Castlebar he went home “shell-shocked”.

Mr Young claimed he had always upheld the ISO standard.

In his evidence, the managing director — referred to only as RM — refuted that he was ever bullying or harassing towards Mr Young.

He said he didn’t think that he called Mr Young incompetent but was unhappy with his performance.

In its ruling, the tribunal stated that it preferred the evidence of Mr Young. It found that he was unfairly dismissed and awarded him €17,500.