Labour Court upholds AIB's dismissal of bank official

AIB’s dismissal of a bank official has been upheld by the Labour Court.

Jason Fitzpatrick had brought the action after he had been dismissed for failing to disclose that his mortgage was in significant arrears. The amount Mr Fitzpatrick owed totalled €407,000

In her ruling, Labour Court deputy chairwoman Louise O'Donnell found that the decision by AIB to dismiss Mr Fitzpatrick was fair and within the "range of reasonable responses of a reasonable employer".

Mr Fitzpatrick was required to provide accurate replies to questions on his own finances under the Central Bank’s Fitness and Probity Regime.

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Ms O’Donnell found that Mr Fitzpatrick was aware of the importance of the Fitness and Probity Regime and that “he had on more than one occasion declared that he was financially sound when he, in fact, had significant debt”.

Financial affairs

The Labour Court ruling upheld an earlier decision by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to dismiss Mr Fitzpatrick’s unfair dismissal claim and the case was before the Labour Court on appeal by Mr Fitzpatrick.

On taking up his employment with AIB, Mr Fitzpatrick signed a form declaring his financial affairs were in order. He subsequently failed to reveal the arrears when he was promoted and had to sign the form again.

His mortgage arrears came to light when Mr Fitzpatrick applied for an AIB mortgage. He also told the bank that his arrears were the subject of legal action.

AIB initiated disciplinary proceedings against Mr Fitzpatrick which found against him and he was dismissed with two months’ salary in lieu of notice in February 2018.

Mr Fitzpatrick took an unfair dismissal action against AIB on the grounds that firing him was not a proportionate response to what he had done.