A housekeeper who claimed to have been driven out of her job in Britain by Dr Edward Haughey, a former member of the Seanad and her multi-millionaire boss, yesterday won her claim of unfair dismissal.
However, an employment tribunal in Carlisle dismissed claims that Dr Haughey had bullied and intimidated staff.
But it agreed that an incident in which the housekeeper, Ms Linda Heaton (47), walked out on her job at Corby Castle near Carlisle had not been a resignation, as claimed by Dr Haughey (59).
The tribunal's decision centres on a weekend last December when Ms Heaton had been tired and stressed, and came just days after she learned her mother was suffering from mouth cancer. Dr Haughey, from Northern Ireland and believed to be worth £300 million, and his wife, Mary, were entertaining guests at a shooting weekend.
The tribunal heard Ms Heaton had worked 76 hours by the evening of the Saturday of that week.
At that point, she told Dr Haughey she had had enough and stormed out of the castle in tears.
Dr Haughey had taken this to be effectively a resignation and days later a member of his staff called her to demand that she return property belonging to the castle.
The tribunal chairman, Mr Michael Malone, said Dr Haughey should have known there were special circumstance surrounding her behaviour as she had tearfully told him of her mother's condition earlier that day.
Mr Malone said: "He knew that she had been working very long hours during that week. He didn't know what was wrong with her but he did know that she was extremely ill.
"He should have known - her eyes were red - that she had obviously been crying."
The chairman found that, during the confrontation, Dr Haughey had not allowed Ms Heaton to put her point across. The pair had been discussing whether she had prepared staff adequately before the evening's entertainment ahead.
The chairman added that given the circumstances, and that her state of health was "not normal" and "out of character" should have told him not to act on her words.
Ms Heaton was awarded £7,339 in awards and compensation.
The tribunal rejected allegations that Dr Haughey had been a bully.
The chairman said: "It was suggested that he was domineering, intimidating and a bully. We reject the whole of that evidence. We find that he liked to have things done to a high standard. He liked things done in his own way and he occasionally raised his voice when displeased.
"There was nothing exceptional about that and that could be the experience of many chairmen and chief executives of multinational companies."
Ms Heaton said of the ruling: "The past nine months have been very traumatic. I am relieved that it is all over now" and she wanted to put the past behind her and move on.
- (PA)