A worker who alleged health and safety procedures were “neglected” at the Dawn Meats factory in Waterford because of Covid-19 pandemic pressure in the winter of 2020 has won €15,000 for discrimination after the Workplace Relations Commission ruled he was dismissed because of a back injury.
Abdullah Aljaber, a former general operative, was awarded the compensation on foot of a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 despite the tribunal accepting that a company witness had “refuted” allegations made by the complainant about hygiene and work practices and at the meatpacking plant.
Mr Aljaber said there was “so much pressure” at the plant as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Sometimes when the line was busy, the burgers go down on the floor,” he said. “If the meat fell, even in front of the manager, you’d pick it up and put it back,” he said.
In response to the claims, Richie Phelan, a former health and safety manager, said: “Everyone is aware that product we make is for human consumption.”
He said if burgers fell off the line, the workers knew that the correct decision was to put fallen patties in a red tray for off-site disposal and that they would not be penalised for this.
Mr Aljaber told the tribunal his back began to give him pain as early as November 2020 as a result of lifting and carrying 25kg bags of meat in “sub-zero conditions” while there was “pressure” on the line and that he complained verbally to the floor manager in December about this.
Mr Phelan, the health and safety manager, said this was “factually incorrect” and said there was “no requirement to hold up weights” in the event of a hold-up on the line – adding that Mr Aljaber told him he hurt his back in a fall at home.
The tribunal heard that Mr Aljaber went on long-term sick leave in January 2021 and was advised that he faced a wait of two or three years for surgery. The company told him in July that year that he had failed his probation and that he could apply for work with the company again when he recovered, the tribunal noted.
The company’s HR manager, Nicola O’Gorman, said that, during this process, Mr Aljaber “never once mentioned being injured in a work-related incident” and maintained he “failed his probation on time and attendance”.
“We could not afford Mr Aljaber light duties so he had to go out sick. There’s no role there in his position for light duties,” the witness said.
Ms Cunningham wrote that the burger-handling allegations had been “refuted by the respondent” and that she accepted Mr Phelan’s evidence denying the claims.
However, she concluded that Mr Aljaber’s dismissal in July 2021, after a period of sick leave, was linked to his back trouble.
She added that there had been a failure to examine reasonable accommodations for Mr Aljaber’s disability.
Upholding his complaint, Ms Cunningham directed Dawn Meats to pay Mr Aljaber €15,000 in compensation.
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