A worker who was called a "negative virus" by his manager and had his hours cut when he objected to CCTV being installed at his workplace without consultation has won €40,000 for whistleblower penalisation.
Timber Frame Projects Ltd, trading as Timber Frame Ireland, was directed to pay the sum to its former employee Norbert Batho on foot of a complaint under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.
Mr Batho raised a verbal complaint with the general manager at the Stranorlar, Co Donegal firm in 2022 complaining that CCTV was being installed without consultation or prior notice to staff, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) heard.
Mr Batho claimed this was done "without lawful basis" under data protection law – refusing to sign a sheet acknowledging that he had been given notice of the installation.
He said in evidence that the company installed the CCTV without "proper notification and consent from employees".
This was disputed by the company. A director, Declan Bourke, told a hearing in January this year the CCTV was installed in response to the theft of tools on the premises and "in compliance with GDPR".
'Just Norbert as usual'
WhatsApp messages from the general manager at the firm and Karen Bourke, a member of senior management, on the morning of 26 October 2022 were seen by the adjudicator.
In the texts, the general manager wrote: "It’s mainly only Norbert causing all this ruckus… but everyone feels like they are being monitored."
He went on to write: "No-one complained or moaned or b***hed about the cameras once yesterday until Norbert came in this morning… It’s just Norbert, he is a negative virus that stirs sh*t always."
The general manager told Ms Bourke that Mr Batho was taking pictures of the camera setup and the sign-off sheets handed around to the workers and said "he is on to the Citizens’ Advice regarding all this."
"Everyone signed without issue or even mention and then said now while Norbert isn’t around they are OK with it… so just Norbert as usual," the manager added.
The last of the manager’s WhatsApps was sent at 10.37am that morning, it was submitted by Jane O'Sullivan of Community Law and Mediation, for Mr Bathos.
Some 35 minutes later at 11.10am, the company director, Mr Bourke wrote to Mr Batho telling him that it was "no longer feasible" to employ him for any hours other than driving duties because of "reduced demand".
Mr Bourke argued the installation of CCTV "does not constitute a wrongdoing capable of founding a protected disclosure" and denied any link to the contract change.
Ms O’Sullivan pointed out in a legal submission that the employer advertised a full-time vacancy for a "driver/welder" soon after Mr Batho resigned his employment two days later.
‘A matter of minutes’
In a decision published on Monday morning, WRC adjudicator Shay Henry wrote that Mr Batho was first told of the new contract and the cut to his hours "a matter of minutes" after the text exchange between the manager and Ms Bourke.
"The complainant was penalised for making a protected disclosure and the complaint is well-founded," Mr Henry wrote.
He awarded €40,000 in compensation for the breach, a sum equivalent to a year’s pay.
Mr Henry found further that Mr Batho was entitled to take the view he was constructively dismissed in breach of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 due to the "unilateral" pay cut and awarded €3,056 in compensation.
There was a third award of €1,000 on foot of a finding that Mr Batho's rights under European regulations governing hours in road transport were breached by the failure to issue payslips documenting his working time.
This brought the total compensation awarded in the case to €44,056.
