Former Red Cross volunteer loses defamation case over job reference from manager

Limerick man claimed he failed to get a job as a full-time ambulance driver after former manager 'knifed' him by providing a poor reference to the HSE

Complainant claimed the words in the reference suggested he was incompetent, untrustworthy, required high levels of supervision and was unprofessional and indiscreet. File picture: Denis Minihane

A former Red Cross volunteer, who claimed a managerial colleague had knifed him in a character reference for a job as a full-time ambulance driver, has lost a €75,000 defamation claim and an estimated €200,000 to €700,000 loss in potential lifetime earnings.

Judge Christopher Callan said in the Circuit Civil Court that Robert Sexton, of Camas, Monega, Co Limerick, had failed to prove malice by either joint defendants Gerard Doody and the Irish Red Cross Society.