Ronan McGreevy
A woman who took an unfair dismissal case against the father of her four children was not actually employed by him, a tribunal has held.
Yvonne Donnelly (44), of Kilmacud Road, Kilmacud, Dublin, had sued Thomas Mannion (53), her former partner and employer, for unfair dismissal.
Ms Donnelly maintained she had been dismissed from Mr Mannion's employment in February 2006 after she discovered that he was in a relationship with his 23-year-old secretary.
In her evidence, Ms Donnelly said she had worked on a part-time basis for Mr Mannion for 11 years between 1994 and 2005 as a part-time secretary and gofer who was at Mr Mannion's "beck and call".
Mr Mannion practises at Mannion Solicitors in Oranmore House, Taney Road, Dundrum.
The couple, who never married, had four children. The first one was born in 1989.
She was paid €1,437 a month, replaced with a monthly payment of €1,000 from January 2006.
Their relationship broke down in 2005 and Mr Mannion, of College Park, Ballinteer, moved out of the family home in August of that year after she discovered that he had been having an affair for 2½ years with his secretary.
Mr Mannion said that Ms Donnelly had worked only two days in the 12 years she had been on his books and "not one iota" of work after November 1996.
By a 2-1 margin, the Employment Appeals Tribunal concluded that a contract of employment did not exist between Ms Donnelly and Mr Mannion and that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
Noirin Greene, dissenting, said she was satisfied that Ms Donnelly was an employee and that the considerable independence she had in carrying out her work was not inconsistent with her being an employee.