Employee who was dismissed after safety complaint awarded €36,050
Mr Richard Doody from Mallow was dismissed from his position with Denis J Downey, a haulage and warehousing firm based in Co. Cork after he made a complaint to the Health and Safety Authority about potentially dangerous conditions at the firm.
The company admitted that the decision to dismiss the employee was directly linked to the complaint he had made about the firm to the HSA. The Managing Director, Denis Downey acknowledged that they had a sense of betrayal and decided to terminate Mr Doody’s employment when they discovered that he had made the complaint. Mr Doody claimed that he had made a number of approaches to the company about his concerns about the manner in which the transport of hazardous cargoes was being documented before making an anonymous complaint to the HSA. He had understood that his identity would not be made known to his employer.
The EAT found that Mr Doody had been unfairly dismissed and awarded him €35,000 in compensation along with €1,050 in respect of his claim under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts. In its decision the EAT referred to section 27 (3) (b) of the Safety Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005, which provides that an employer shall not penalise or threaten penalisation against an employee for making a complaint or representation to his or her Safety Representative or employer or the Authority, as regards any matter relating to safety, health and welfare at work.
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