A courier whose boss accused him of killing a dog on his rounds, calling a colleague with a learning difficulty a "handicap" and "shouting and roaring" at children has won a "minimal" order for €450 compensation in his unfair dismissal claim.
Jason Sinnott claimed his boss at Co Mayo-based delivery firm GDP Transport Ltd, Paul Keane, "had it in for [me] because I stood up for myself" at a meeting over the September 2020 incident with the dog, which he said he reported.
He said the allegation about verbally abusing his colleague as stated was false and that he was never aggressive with the children.
Giving evidence to the tribunal in March on Mr Sinnott's Unfair Dismissal Act claim, Mr Keane said the company was "very busy" all though the Covid-19 pandemic, but had a "good working relationship" with the complainant - only speaking to him once that year, in September, about "speeding in the depot".
He said that some time after that, he learned "a dog was killed by the complainant in Castlebar".
"The incident was not reported by [Mr Sinnott], who drove off," Mr Keane said, adding that the gardaí were called and he was contacted, but the complainant "did not report it to him".
Mr Keane said the complainant also failed to report denting a van and that there was a further incident in the company’s parcel depot on 15 December 2021, when he said Mr Sinnott was in dispute with another worker there.
Mr Sinnott "became abusive" and called his colleague a "handicap", Mr Keane said.
The complainant told the tribunal he "did not know" the other worker had a learning difficulty and that the allegation was "false".
At the same meeting, Mr Keane also took up the issue of "extended breaks" he said Mr Sinnott was taking at home, the company representative, HR consultant Terri Sue Cosgrave, said in a legal submission.
These were "evidenced on the van tracker system" and were taking place "to such an extent that they were deemed a dereliction of duty".
Mr Sinnott was then served with two written warnings by email, one for gross misconduct over "bullying" and a second for "unsafe practices and speeding at the depot", Ms Cosgrave said.
Mr Sinnott said Mr Keane "had already made up his mind" at a meeting in January 2022 about this and the other matters.
He said he "spoke up" and referred to taking a WRC case, adding that his boss asked him to choose between working for one week more or getting two written warnings.
He told the WRC that he looked for confirmation of dismissal in writing, and was subsequently offered a transfer and took it "as he needed the work".
Mr Keane said he had to transfer the complainant to the contract route with package firm GLS to avoid sending him back to the estate where the dog was killed.
Then, in March 2022, a member of the public complained to GLS that Mr Sinnott had been "shouting and roaring" at her children - in uniform for GLS - Mr Keane said.
Mr Sinnott said he was "never aggressive" with the children on that occasion, stating that he had not been present and that his sister was the one involved in the interaction.
His sister said so to his employer at a further meeting about it in July, Mr Sinnott told the WRC.
Paul Keane "had it in" for him because he "stood up" for himself earlier that year and wanted "rid" of him, the complainant said.
He denied Mr Keane's claim that he failed to report the dog incident in Castlebar, stating that he rang the company’s office about it.
The employer said GLS did not want Mr Sinnott "representing them as a courier due to his high-conflict personality" - adding that he "firmly believes" the incident led to him losing a contract with GLS.
Mr Sinnott said Mr Keane’s evidence that he was wearing a GLS uniform at the time was "untrue" because he "did not have a uniform with the GLS logo" at the time of the incident with the children.
Mr Keane said there was a further incident in June 2022 where he had to send other staff to Mr Sinnott’s house to get his van when the complainant was absent for medical reasons.
Mr Sinnott said he told a GLS manager who informed Mr Keane of these and sent texts in – adding that Mr Keane's son phoned him the night he got home from hospital by "would not listen to his explanations of his illness and how ill he had been".
The company’s position was that Mr Sinnott was ultimately sacked for his "behaviour at work and out in the community".
In her decision, adjudicating officer Janet Hughes wrote that Mr Sinnott had displayed "a complete lack of respect or concern for the interests of his employer" and was "anything but constructive" at a final meeting with his boss during the disciplinary process.
"On the balance of probabilities there were abusive comments about Mr Keane and or his family at that meeting," she wrote, adding that trust had broken down "completely".
His boss Mr Keane, however, "clearly had little idea how to conduct an orderly, organised and fair disciplinary process", she wrote.
She noted that the respondent had only given notice in writing for one meeting, combined the two stages of investigation and disciplinary meeting into one, and delayed looking into the "serious" public complaint.
Although the sacking was "flawed in every conceivable way from a procedural perspective", Ms Hughes said she would only award one week's wages of €450.
Mr Sinnott got work at higher pay and had suffered no financial loss, she noted, adding that the complainant’s contribution to the dismissal had been "overwhelming".
