Stable manager awarded €57,500 after employment law ‘egregiously breached’ in his dismissal

A stable manager who lost his accommodation – and stabling for his horse – when he was unfairly dismissed last year has been awarded €57,000 in compensation.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) heard that Charlie Wheatley and his horse were turfed out by stable owners Donagh and Anita Kelly in April of last year.

The WRC found that employment law had been “egregiously breached” in the case and ordered the stable owners to pay accommodation expenses for Mr Wheatley for a year, livery fees for his horse and the maximum compensation for lost earnings of two years’ salary.

Giving evidence to a hearing last March, Mr Wheatley said Ms Kelly came to him in an “agitated, angry state” on April 7th, 2022 and told him he was dismissed. He said there was no discussions on the matter, nor any offer of an appeal.

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No complaints

The complainant, who said he’d had a long career in the equine business, said “all had gone well” in his employment at the stables over the previous 2½ years. He said no complaints were brought to his attention, but that there had been a possible “difference of opinion” over dressage horses, with a particular rider having “brought in the owners” on the matter.

“It was nothing of any major significance,” Mr Wheatley said.

The complainant’s solicitor, John Joy of John M Joy & Co, said his client earned €1,726 a month but also had the benefit of free “all-in” accommodation in connection with his employment, along with stabling for his own horse.

In addition to the primary complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, Mr Wheatley had also lodged claims against his former employer under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994, and the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, 1973, alleging a failure to give him notice pay or a written contract.

‘No mitigating evidence’

In his decision, WRC adjudicator Michael McEntee said there was “no mitigating evidence” from the stable owners as none had been presented. The Kellys were “fully aware of the date and time of the hearing”, he wrote, noting that the only contact made with the tribunal was a letter from their solicitors stating that the firm was coming off record.

Based on the sworn testimony, he said, “an unfair dismissal clearly took place and no procedures were followed”. 

The adjudicator ordered the Kelly’s to pay Mr Wheatley the maximum compensation of two years’ salary –  €41,000 – for the dismissal. He also awarded €15,000 for the loss of Mr Wheatley’s accommodation at the stables and €1,000 to cover livery fees for the complainant’s horse.

Mr McEntee called it a “significant award” but one he considered “just and equitable” in the circumstances given “employment law was egregiously breached”. He rejected a notice pay claim as Mr Wheatley was paid out until the end of April 2022, but awarded a further €500 in compensation for the failure to provide a written statement of terms of employment. The total of the orders against Mr and Ms Kelly was €57,500.