Security guard who allowed hotel guest view CCTV of sex act unfairly dismissed

The Citywest hotel in Dublin has been found to have unfairly dismissed a security guard who permitted a female guest to view a tape of herself and a man engaged in a sexual act on the hotel premises.

The Labour Court has found that the decision by the hotel to dismiss Nicholas Reddin was procedurally unfair and has awarded him €6,000. However, it also found Mr Reddin was 80 per cent responsible for his own dismissal.

The decision by the Labour Court overturns an earlier ruling by an adjudication officer at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) who found Mr Reddin's dismissal was fair.

No parties were named in the WRC report but as Mr Reddin appealed the WRC ruling to the Labour Court, the parties are now named.

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In the case, a colleague on October 31st 2015 alerted Mr Reddin to hotel CCTV footage showing the two hotel guests engaging in a sexual act, but not intercourse, on a hotel corridor from the previous night.

The following night in the hotel bar when Mr Reddin was trying to get guests to finish their drinks, he made the female guest aware of what he had seen on the hotel security cameras.

According to his own account given at a disciplinary hearing, he asked her “if she knew what she did the night before”.

Mr Reddin then offered to show the woman the footage and the woman and a friend went to view the CCTV at the hotel security base.

The woman subsequently made a complaint to the hotel over Mr Reddin’s conduct and said he had subjected herself and her friend to offensive and inappropriate language and that several sexual remarks were made towards her.

Mr Reddin told the Labour Court hearing he did not engage in any offensive behaviour towards the woman.

In the hotel bar before viewing the footage, the woman said Mr Reddin had told her he was aware that she had been kissing a man on CCTV.

As a result of the woman’s complaint, the hotel launched disciplinary proceedings against Mr Reddin and he was dismissed at a meeting on December 10th 2015 with immediate effect.He was dismissed for displaying inappropriate and offensive behaviour towards a guest in the hotel, and flagrant disregard for the procedures within the hotel by allowing two guests of the hotel to enter the security base and to view CCTV footage.

Worried for guest

In his evidence at the Labour Court, Mr Reddin said he showed the footage to the woman as she had asked to view it and he was worried for her. He said it appeared to him that the male involved in the incident was dragging out of the female guest and that what he was doing was malicious.

The hotel stated that if Mr Reddin had considered what he had seen on the CCTV to be an assault on the premises he was obliged to report that to the security manager, HR and gardaí via an incident report.

The hotel said Mr Reddin did none of these things and in his evidence, said he had no chance to do an incident report.

Mr Reddin said he had worked at the hotel since 2006 and never had any disciplinary issues before.

Mr Reddin’s security colleague who played the footage for the two female guests was also subject to a disciplinary process.

The Labour Court found that a senior Citywest employee conducted the two disciplinary processes and as she failed to share the account of the other security man with Mr Reddin, it was a failing of the disciplinary process. The court also found there were failings on other aspects of the disciplinary process.

It found that “in all the circumstances the court finds that the dismissal of the appellant (Mr Reddin) was procedurally unfair”.

A spokesman for the Citywest Hotel said on Wednesday that it had no comment to make on the outcome of the case.