A worker who alleged health and safety procedures were "neglected" at the Dawn Meats factory in Waterford because of Covid-19 pandemic pressure in the winter of 2020 has won €15,000 for discrimination after the Workplace Relations Commission ruled he was dismissed because of a back injury.
Abdullah Aljaber was awarded the compensation on foot of a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 despite the tribunal accepting that a company witness had "refuted" allegations made by the complainant about hygiene and work practices and at the meatpacking plant.
Mr Aljaber, a former general operative at the Co Waterford plant, had claimed the firm discriminated against him on the grounds of disability by failing to provide him with reasonable accommodation and terminating his employment after he suffered a back injury.
At a series of Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) hearings dating back to 2022, the meatpacking giant's representatives had tried to have members of the press barred from reporting on any of Mr Aljaber’s allegations, which included the claim that dropped burgers were picked up from the floor and put back on a packaging line at the plant.
The worker’s case was that he injured his back at work as a result of carrying heavy trays in subzero temperatures – while a company witness said the worker had stated to him that he hurt his back in a fall at home.
The company called the burger handling allegation false and defamatory, calculated to damage the company – with a WRC adjudicator accepting the evidence of a former health and safety officer, who said burgers were "absolutely not" put back on conveyors after falling to the floor.
Giving evidence to the WRC through an Arabic interpreter in November 2022, Mr Al Jaber said that there was "lots of pressure on the work" at Dawn Meats in the winter of 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"[There] was so much pressure [that] if some procedure was neglected, covering the meat et cetera, you’d just leave it like that," Mr Al Jaber said.
"Even the machines really weren’t being cleaned. That tells you there was so much pressure on some days machines were not washed or cleaned," he added.
"Sometimes when the line was busy the burgers go down on the floor," he said.
"If the meat fell, even in front of the manager, you'd pick it up and put it back," he said.
His solicitor, Gerard Cullen asked: "How often?"
"Too often," Mr Al Jaber replied.
Robin McKenna of the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (IBEC), appearing for Dawn Meats, said Mr Cullen was "clearly grandstanding" and said: "there’s a reporter here".
In response to the claims, Richie Phelan, a former health and safety manager with Dawn Meats, told the WRC in November 2022: "Everyone is aware that product we make is for human consumption," he said. He added in response to specific questioning from Mr Cullen that if burgers fell off the line, the workers knew that the correct decision was to put fallen patties in a red tray for offsite disposal and that they would not be penalised for this.
Mr Aljaber told the tribunal said his back began to give him pain as early as November 2020 as a result of lifting and carrying 25kg bags of meat in "subzero conditions" while there was "pressure" on the line and that he complained verbally to the floor manager in December about this.
Mr Phelan, the health and safety manager, said this was "factually incorrect" and said there was "no requirement to hold up weights" in the event of a hold-up on the line.
His position was that Mr Aljaber informed him, upon arriving late to work on 5 January 2021, that he "hurt his back slipping at home", which was denied by the complainant.
The tribunal heard that Mr Aljaber went on long-term sick leave in January 2021 and was advised that he faced a wait of two or three years for surgery. The company told him in July that year that he had failed his probation and that he could apply for work with the company again when he recovered, the tribunal noted.
The company’s HR manager, Nicola O’Gorman, said that during this process, the Mr Aljaber "never once mentioned being injured in a work-related incident" and maintained he "failed his probation on time and attendance".
"In all my meetings he never once mentioned being injured in a work-related incident," she said. "Mr Aljaber disclosed to me that he would have to go for surgery, that he would have to wait a minimum of two to three years… he couldn’t give me a return-to-work date because of Covid," Ms O’Gorman added.
"I put it to you you just wanted to get rid of him," said Mr Cullen, cross-examining Ms O’Gorman.
"We could not afford Mr Aljaber light duties so he had to go out sick. There’s no role there in his position for light duties," the witness said. The company’s policy for general operatives was "either you’re fit or you’re not", the witness added.
Ms Cunningham wrote that the burger handling allegations had been "refuted by the respondent" and that she accepted Mr Phelan’s evidence denying the claims.
However, she concluded that Mr Aljaber’s dismissal in July 2021, after a period of sick leave, was linked to his back trouble on the basis that he was offered the opportunity to "apply again… if and when he recovered".
She added that there had been a failure to examine reasonable accommodations for Mr Aljaber’s disability.
Upholding his complaint, Ms Cunningham directed Dawn Meats to pay Mr Aljaber €15,000 in compensation.
