Accountant Wins €25,000 After Employer Laughed at Redundancy Query

An accountant who endured a dismissive employer has secured over €25,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal. Siobhán McDonagh, who worked for James P McCann Ireland Ltd for 17 years, told the Workplace Relations Commission that her employer "laughed" when she asked about her statutory redundancy pay after being informed she was losing her job.

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He said no: I would have to claim my redundancy off the State.

McDonagh, who earned just over €50,000 annually as a financial controller, was dismissed in January. The tribunal heard that the company's managing director, Seoirse McCann, stated the business was left with only two Dublin arcades facing "extreme financial difficulties" after closing a bingo hall in Dundalk. He explained that outsourcing McDonagh's role could save the company approximately €30,000 per year.

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I probably shouldn’t be saying this. It was a cash business, so it was what they were putting through the banks then. At the time I was there, the company was doing well.

Despite the company's claims of financial hardship, McDonagh expressed her belief that the business was "doing well" and "profitable" during her tenure, noting it was a "cash business." The tribunal, however, ruled that while the company was experiencing a downturn, there were "significant procedural defects" in how McDonagh's termination was handled. This led to the finding of unfair dismissal and the award of €25,177.62.

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At the time Siobhán was the only full-time office worker outside day-to-day operations. We felt if we outsourced the work, it would reduce our costs. The saving was significant; it would have saved us around €30,000 per year.