A computer company which used selective and subjective criteria to make a senior executive redundant has been ordered to pay him €38,000 compensation.
The Employment Appeals Tribunal found that Mr Ciaran Shanley, a business development manager with IT Alliance Ltd of Park House, North Circular Road, Dublin, was unfairly dismissed in February last year.
The company claimed Mr Shanley, of Orlagh Lodge, Templeogue, Dublin, was fairly selected for redundancy as part of a restructuring programme.
The tribunal, however, said the methods used to terminate Mr Shanley's employment were "tantamount to summary dismissal".
It was surprising, it said, that the company had not engaged in direct discussions with Mr Shanley about his possible redundancy.
"Furthermore, the process and selective criteria used to justify the claimant's redundancy were very subjective. There was also an unnecessary element of secrecy connected with this issue," it said.
The tribunal had heard in evidence that Mr Shanley was a director of an IT Alliance subsidiary company when he was sacked in February last year. The primary aim of the subsidiary was to sell a computer package to the domestic market.
