A former accounts manager who sued Eircom after she was offered no "suitable" work by the company for almost five years has been awarded more than €87,000 in damages at the High Court.
Ms Justice Mary Laffoy yesterday found that Eircom had breached the terms of employment of Mary Cronin (30), of Tulfarris village, Blessington, Co Wicklow, by failing to provide her with a suitable job in Ireland after her position with a subsidiary of Eircom in the UK was terminated.
Eircom had effectively deprived Ms Cronin of a meaningful job since May 2001, resulting in damage to her career, the judge held. The spectre of a severance package had overshadowed the case, the judge noted.
Eircom had denied any breach of contract and also denied that Ms Cronin had suffered loss, damage or expense.
In her reserved judgment, Ms Justice Laffoy said the award, totalling €87,354, was made for lost commission, arrears of salary, relocation expenses and also included "loss of chance" damage, related to the lost opportunity to advance to a post of accounts manager.
Eircom, the judge said, "was wholly responsible for the failure to place the plaintiff". Ms Cronin's career and capacity to earn had been "adversely affected" by Eircom's failure to find her an appropriate position between the end of May 2001 and February 2005. She left in April of this year.
However, no evidence was produced that would support an award of general damages to Ms Cronin, the judge said, adding that this was an unusual, though not unique, case because Eircom chose not to invoke compulsory redundancy against an employee.