Donal O'Donovan v Over-C Technology Limited and Over-C
Limited [2021] IECA 37
The Court of Appeal has issued an interesting judgment in
relation to an employment injunction where the employee had been
dismissed while on probation.
Fair Procedures
A central issue in the case was whether fair procedures had to
be applied before a dismissal while an employee was on probation. A
question arose as to whether an allegation of misconduct had been
made (this was denied by the employer) and what difference, if any,
that made to the fair procedures issue. The employer's
defence, essentially, was that the reason for dismissal was
performance-related, not misconduct and therefore the right to fair
procedures did not arise. The employee claimed that his dismissal
was null and void and he sought an injunction preventing his
employer from terminating his employment, together with
damages.
