The Labour Court upheld a recommendation reducing disciplinary penalties for a chargehand stagehand at Radio Telefís Éireann, but increased his unpaid suspension from one week to three. The decision was signed on 30 June 1998 after the broadcaster appealed the Rights Commissioner’s recommendation.
The worker had been disciplined after a serious verbal assault on his supervisor. The original penalties included a year-long demotion, six weeks’ unpaid suspension, 12 months’ probation and a final written warning. The Rights Commissioner recommended restoring him to chargehand grade from 1 August 1997 and reducing the suspension to one week.
Radio Telefís Éireann argued that the incident was serious and the disciplinary process thorough. The worker said fair procedures had not been followed, including because he was denied legal representation and a manager involved in the investigation also sat on the disciplinary panel.
The Labour Court agreed that fair procedures had not been followed, citing statements withheld from the worker and the line manager’s role on the panel. It accepted the recommendation to amend the penalties but found a week’s unpaid suspension inadequate given the seriousness of the offence, and increased it to three weeks.