A TEAM leader working for an insulation-fitting company, who was fired after missing work to attend the funeral of a murdered friend, has been awarded €5,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Keith Martin had worked for Usher Insulations in Coolmine, Dublin, for five years when he was fired after skipping work when he had been told by his superiors he was not allowed to attend the funeral of a friend who had been stabbed to death.
The funeral took place on January 25th, 2009, during which time Mr Martin was working on a contract in Galway. Mr Martin was informed by Usher management they could not afford for him to miss the day’s work because, if he was absent, so were his team.
Representatives of Usher told the tribunal the company handbook stated employees could only avail of leave from work for funerals of immediate family.
When Mr Martin did not attend work on January 25th, he was sent a letter inviting him to a meeting with management.
Also on January 25th, the company learned a number of tasks Mr Martin was to have completed by that date, such as the insulation of pipes at the Galway site, were not complete. This had resulted, it was alleged, in burst pipes on the site, which housed elderly people.
Due to the seriousness of the alleged misconduct, the disciplinary process was fast-tracked, according to Usher Insulations who invited Mr Martin to attend a meeting on January 27th. Following that meeting, he was issued a letter stating he was being dismissed on January 29th.
In its ruling, the tribunal said while Mr Martin’s actions contributed to his dismissal, “no satisfactory reason” was given as to why the initial stages of the disciplinary process were skipped, save for the company saying the issues were so serious a fast-tracking of the process was merited.