A High Court action began yesterday against Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd involving a journalist who became a political correspondent of the Evening Herald in late 1999.
She worked in that position for a number of months and is claiming damages for breach of contract and wrongful dismissal.
Mairead Carey claims that under her terms of employment she was to work from home from 7 am until the first edition deadline and from the Dáil for the remainder of the day.
Mr Justice Gilligan was told that later a dispute arose between the sides when she was asked to go into the newspaper office in the early morning rather than working from home. Ms Carey had a young baby and could not get a childminder at an early hour, the court heard.
The defence denies that the company wrongfully purported to terminate Ms Carey's contract of employment summarily on April 17th, 2000 or at all. It contends that by letter of that date, it lawfully terminated her contract of employment on four weeks' notice.
The defence pleads that insofar as Ms Carey had any grievance in respect of any term of condition of work practice, they at all times expressed a willingness to deal with it through normal grievance procedures.
Ms Carey claims she made the arrangement to work from home with the then editor, Paul Drury. The day after she started work with the Evening Herald in November 1999 she was advised that Mr Drury's employment at that newspaper had terminated.
The court heard that a letter from a company executive on January 28th, 2001 stated the arrangement with Mr Drury for her to work from home had not worked out. The executive stated he had told Ms Carey that while they would honour the deal done with Mr Drury, the new editor may want to change it at some time.
Ms Carey, O'Curry Road, Dublin, claims she was employed with the Evening Herald under a contract entered into in October 1999.
She claims her employment would be terminable only for a good cause and that reasonable notice would be not less than one year, given her experience as a political correspondent elsewhere and the particular circumstances attaching to her recruitment by the defendant from another newspaper.
Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd, in its defence, pleads that the contract was capable of being determined on the giving of four weeks notice.
The hearing continues today .