A GOVERNMENT department had been “overindulgent” in tolerating the activities of a civil servant who just stopped turning up for work, a judge has stated.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane, throwing out Frances Carew’s appeal against alleged unfair dismissal, held that her unauthorised absences and failure to attend disciplinary meetings had properly been grounds for her dismissal.
Ms Carew (59), a former labour inspector, was sacked from her job by the Department of Enterprise in 2009. She claimed in the Circuit Civil Court that “a sustained campaign of bullying and harassment” had prevented her from attending work from August 2007 to November 2008 after having been transferred under protest to the National Employment Rights Authority.
Judge Linnane had excused 11 witnesses called by Ms Carew. All of them had asked to be allowed to return to their work on the basis they had either not been properly served to appear or were not relevant to the case.
Ms Carew, of Lansdowne Village, Sandymount, Dublin, was asking Judge Linnane to overturn an Employment Appeals Tribunal decision that held she had not been unfairly dismissed. The court heard Ms Carew had ignored verbal warnings and had failed to attend disciplinary hearings inquiring into her attendance at work. She had also ignored written warnings and requests to report to her workplace.
Department personnel officer Maureen O’Sullivan said Ms Carew had been warned that failure to report for work with the employment rights authority would lead to disciplinary action, including dismissal. She had later been informed of her dismissal.
The tribunal had dismissed her claim of unfair dismissal in April 2011 on the grounds the termination of her job had been justified. She was seeking reinstatement.
Judge Linnane affirmed the tribunal’s decision and awarded legal costs against Ms Carew.