Journalist takes second unfair dismissal case

Initial ruling of €55,000 in Catherine Murphy case against Irish Independent set aside

Journalist Catherine Murphy has taken a second unfair dismissal case against the Irish Independent after her initial tribunal award of €55,000 was set aside.

During a case heard on June 3rd 2014, Ms Murphy told an Employment Appeals Tribunal hearing that she had worked for the publication's weekend magazine between August 2011 and December 2012 before being made to leave the company.

But counsel for the Irish Independent subsequently argued that her legal team referenced the wrong defendant when naming Independent News and Media in their initial action and, consequently, her direct employer Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd never received notification of the hearing. As such, a new case is now being heard on the same grounds.

Ms Murphy told a tribunal sitting yesterday that she was offered a full-time position at the newspaper by then-weekend magazine editor Yvonne Hogan in 2011. She said she was paid a consistent weekly wage of €1,200. She was tasked with doing more and more "celeb-type" articles over the latter half of 2012, and said she was eventually made leave the company after protesting over her new duties.

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Further hearings are scheduled for November 24th and 25th.