A security guard who was fired after sending a porn video to a female colleague has had his compensation for unfair dismissal more than doubled to €10,200 in an appeal.
The supermarket security officer, who was in his late 50s, had worked for his employer for 12 years and had an annual salary of €39,572.
He had a clean service record when he sent a video in error to a female colleague known as Ms A via WhatsApp on June 19, 2020 while off duty.
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He deleted the video when he realised it had gone to an unintended recipient.
However, Ms A made a formal complaint that she had been sent a pornographic video by the security officer.
He was suspended by the supermarket the following day and was dismissed two months later following an investigation and disciplinary process.
The Workplace Relations Commission had ruled that the worker had been unfairly dismissed and said that he should be awarded €4,566 in compensation.
Both the security officer and the supermarket appealed the decision.
In its ruling, the Labour Court deputy chairperson, Katie Connolly, acknowledged the video had been sent in error.
She awarded the security officer €34,000 losses based on his salary.
But the court reduced the size of the award by 50 per cent because the man had been unavailable for work for a 12-month period after returning to his country of origin until September 2021.
He was also in receipt of social welfare until June 2022 when he found part-time work.
Ms Connolly also made a further cut of 20 per cent due to the man’s own contribution to his dismissal, concluding that an award of €10,400 was “just and equitable”.
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