Limerick pub ordered to pay €9k to barman accused of drinking on the job 

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the company, Cerlock, which runs The Old Stand bar on Henry Street had unfairly dismissed Kenneth Malone.

The owner of a Limerick city pub has been ordered to pay €9,000 compensation to a former barman accused of drinking on the job.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the company, Cerlock, which runs The Old Stand bar on Henry Street had unfairly dismissed Kenneth Malone.

Mr Malone told the WRC that he was approached by the pub’s owner, Leeann Graham, on July 18, 2022, who implied that he was “on the drink” and that she had CCTV footage of him coming out of a cold store with some empty cans.

Mr Malone said he was very upset after she terminated his employment and asked him to leave the premises.

The WRC heard he was invited to attend a disciplinary meeting with the company’s accountants but he did not go as he believed it was no more than “window dressing”.

He said he received no reply from the pub about a letter he sent on July 25, 2022, in which he pointed out he had been unfairly dismissed without any prior warning or discussion.

However, Ms Graham said Mr Malone, who had worked in The Old Stand for almost seven years, had been issued with previous verbal and written warnings including a final written warning about the need to improve his performance.

The WRC heard Mr Malone was entrusted with running the pub after Ms Graham was diagnosed with an illness.

CCTV footage

Ms Graham said she was informed by a number of customers when she returned to work in July 2022 that Mr Malone was drinking while at work.

The publican said she reviewed CCTV footage from the premises which confirmed the information she had been given.

Ms Graham said she told the barman what she had seen, which he did not deny, and that she would have to suspend his employment pending a disciplinary hearing.

She said following that hearing, which he refused to attend, his employment was terminated for gross misconduct.

The WRC heard claims by Cerlock that Mr Malone was made aware of the allegations against him at the outset and was given prior notice at all times of the investigation and disciplinary process.

The pub claimed the dismissal of the barman met the legal test for being within the range of reasonable responses of an employer to his conduct.

However, it was established that the barman had never been shown the CCTV footage which allegedly showed him drinking with customers and coming from a store room with an empty can.

WRC adjudication officer, Peter O’Brien, who examined the footage after the WRC hearing, said the barman could be seen on a few occasions having a drink at the bar.

He ruled that the video showing the barman coming from the store room with a can was inconclusive about him drinking in the store.

Mr O’Brien said regardless of whether the barman was on a final written warning, which Mr Malone disputed, the pub’s owner had a duty to maintain signed records.

He said Ms Graham had acted as accuser and investigator in the dismissal process, while the meeting set up three days later in her accountant’s office seemed “a convenient rethinking by the respondent to try to satisfy proper procedure".