THE FORMER general manager of the Irish arm of a Japanese electronics firm has been awarded more than €161,000 in compensation after a tribunal found he had been unfairly dismissed in a company restructuring.
An Employment Appeals Tribunal found JVC Europe of London and Carriglea Business Park, Naas Road, Dublin, had “effectively engaged in a purported redundancy process” to get rid of general manager Jerome Ponisi, Roselawn, Tipper Road, Naas, Co Kildare.
The tribunal was told it was “beyond doubt” that Mr Ponisi had “suffered catastrophic loss” and may not secure work for the next three years. He had been asked to apply for a new role, said the tribunal, “with the resultant loss of status and a lower salary if he was given the job, where there was no material difference between the job he held and the new one”.
Mr Ponisi was managing director of a company that distributed JVC products in Ireland from 1982 to 1991, when he left to work in another industry. After 18 months, he joined JVC Ireland, which had then become the company that distributed its products on both sides of the Border.
In January 2008, a downturn in the electronic firm’s business led to restructuring, redundancies and the “reshaping” of management.
Mr Ponisi argued that the Irish operation was profitable and that the proposed new position of sales manager Ireland was practically the same as his job, although more junior and less well paid.
Mr Ponisi said he was “disgusted” at the way he was treated. He did not concede redundancy and refused to apply for a demotional role that was an “insult” to him.
He believed the company wanted him to leave. He alleged there was a pre-ordained plan to put in a new job and the process “was dressed up to be something it was not”. He finished working with JVC in May 2008.
The company said the process was fair, the two jobs were not the same, and Mr Ponisi was generously treated and offered a redundancy package at three times his gross weekly salary.