A BUILDING worker who was fired after being convicted in the District Court of stealing petrol from a petrol station his company had built has been awarded €6,000 compensation for unfair dismissal.
An Employment Appeals Tribunal found that David Flynn Ltd of Paragon House, Waterford Business Park, Cork Road acted unfairly in dismissing Jon Pearce of Ashgrove, Fethard-on-Sea, Co Wexford.
In a determination yesterday the tribunal said that in circumstances where there were a series of offences over a period of time and where the company's contracts were mainly on retail and commercial sites, it was satisfied there were "substantial grounds" for dismissing Mr Pearce.
However, in failing and refusing to speak to Mr Pearce, the tribunal found the company's managing director "acted unfairly".
"At the District Court hearing evidence was tendered in mitigation and a light penalty was imposed on the claimant."
The tribunal said that at the least, in cases such as this, an employee ought to be afforded the opportunity to put any mitigating circumstances before their employer for their consideration.
"In failing to afford the claimant such opportunity the Tribunal finds that the dismissal is procedurally unfair. The claimant contributed substantially to his dismissal."
Mr Pearce had worked for the company as a general operative and groundsman since September 2001.
In March 2006 he pleaded guilty and was convicted for driving away from a petrol station on 10 occasions between mid-July and mid-November 2005 without paying for petrol. He was fined €300 by the court.