The Deputy Chairman of the ESB is considering legal action over what he claims is his dismissal for criticising the company's €500 million pension deficit.
Union sources say Joe La Cumbre will also be seeking meetings with Minister Noel Dempsey and the ICTU over the ESB board's decision not to allow him to take over as chairman in the absence of the present incumbent, Tadhg O'Donoghue.
Mr O'Donoghue is expected to be absent for a couple of months. However, this week the board voted PD appointee Eoin Fahy to take over rather than Mr La Cumbre, who is a worker director.
An ESB spokesman said that under company rules it is up to the board to decide who takes over the chairmanship and that this is done on a 'case by case basis'.
