A TRUCK driver who was fired after he said he had to take an 11-hour break after a day of driving has been awarded €45,000 compensation by an Employment Appeals Tribunal.
The tribunal found that James Farrell, Rathgreedan, Edenderry, Co Offaly, was unfairly dismissed by Martin Kealy Transport, Clonminam Business Park, Portlaoise.
The transport company is a family-run business with 11 trucks and 13 workers.
The operations manager told the tribunal their main customer was constantly phoning about late loads and collections, and he noticed it was mostly Mr Farrell who was the driver in question.
He phoned him and asked him if it was possible to get to the Dublin freight terminal on time like other drivers.
He said Mr Farrell would argue that “it was his way of doing things”. He found it increasingly difficult to deal with Mr Farrell.
When Mr Farrell said he would not be able to get to a terminal collection at 6am because he said he had to take a break, the manager dismissed him because he “would not work” and “would not take instructions”. The company did not expect the drivers to exceed the tachograph limitations.
Explaining the events prior to his dismissal, Mr Farrell said he had made a goods collection at 6am and had taken it to Belfast. He then went to Belfast docks to pick up a load for Enniscorthy. He finished the delivery at 9pm.
He could not make the early morning collection his manager asked for as he was then required to take an 11-hour break.
Mr Farrell told the tribunal he could not do what the manager asked “because if he had hit a car while driving he would have been in trouble, as he should not have been driving”. He took his break and got a phone call the next morning to say he was dismissed.
The tribunal said there was a conflict in the company’s own reasons for dismissing Mr Farrell between a letter of dismissal and evidence that was given.
The company had not satisfied the tribunal as to the “substantial grounds justifying dismissal”.