A tribunal has rejected a butcher’s claim that he was sacked for being a member of Siptu – concluding that his emails accusing its managers of dishonesty and unethical behaviour were the main reason he lost his job.
In a complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 against Tipperary Sustainable Food Company, trading as James Whelan Butchers, the worker, Daniel Holland, wrote that he had been told the reason for his dismissal was “misalignment”.
He added that he asked what the firm meant by “misalignment” but was “refused a response” and formed the belief he lost his job because he had referred to Siptu in an email to human resources.
Siptu argued the dismissal was a result of its client’s trade union membership, which disapplied the usual minimum service requirement of 12 months under the Unfair Dismissals Act.
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Mr Holland joined the company on April 24th, 2023 and had his employment terminated on April 23rd, 2024 – leaving him two days short. Denying the complaint on behalf of the company, its barrister called the worker’s accusation about trade union membership a “retro-fit” because Mr Holland “didn’t have the service”.
In his evidence, Mr Holland said his first six months in the job were “all okay” and that he passed his probation after that “with flying colours”. The tribunal heard that in email correspondence with the company’s head of human resources, Siobhán Keane, Mr Holland said he was told that Darran Walsh, the firm’s head of operations, would contact him about a particular matter.
Mr Holland replied that he had posed “relatively simple questions” to Ms Keane and was “concerned” at her lack of response. He went on to write: “The fact that I have reached out to you… for clarity and the only offering as any form of answer is that Darran will be in contact to discuss.”
“I find it truly unethical that this very simple request to yourself through the correct channels has now become a back-alley sideways conversation with someone outside of the people and culture department,” he added.
Owen Keany BL, appearing for the respondent instructed by Elaine Kelly of Byrne Wallace Shields LLP, asked Mr Holland if he saw the email as a “respectful and appropriate way to deal with a colleague”.
Mr Holland’s reply was that he did not see it as “outside the bounds” or “unacceptable”.
When Mr Holland was referred to another email in which he stated that the two managers had “not demonstrated honesty in their interactions with him”, he stated that it was still his position.
Mr Keany said it was “an extraordinary thing to say” and “a ‘stop the lights!’ moment in an employment relationship”.
Paula Thornton, the company’s general manager, said she had “concerns about the manner in which her colleague was being called into question”.
The witness said that she and Mr Walsh formed the view the employment relationship was “over” and that they “could not see an alignment between the tone and content of those emails and the culture of their business”. The fact Mr Holland had mentioned his trade union membership did not enter their thinking, she added.
In her decision, adjudicator Eileen Campbell wrote that the wording of Mr Holland’s emails to Ms Keane, a senior manager with the firm were “likely to have been considered by the respondent to have impugned the employment relationship” and left it “damaged beyond repair”.
“I conclude that the complainant’s trade union membership or activities was not the most important factor in the parting of the ways between the parties,” she wrote.
She found the dismissal was not “wholly or mainly” related to Mr Holland’s trade union involvement and dismissed the claim.
The WRC was told the Tipperary Sustainable Food Company had started life as a single shop in Clonmel, Co Tipperary in the 1960s, but had expanded from 2010 onwards to a chain of 14 shops employing nearly 300.
Vivian Cullen of the SIPTU Workers Rights Centre appeared for Mr Holland.
