Sacked AIB whistleblower to be reinstated after tribunal ruling

AIB HAS been directed to reinstate a former employee and whistleblower who was dismissed after accessing the bank accounts of other staff.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal found that Brian Purcell, Skerries, Co Dublin, had been unfairly dismissed by the bank in April 2009.

He was a junior manager in the bank’s capital markets division until he was dismissed a year after the bank had discovered he had accessed nine accounts of staff. He checked them to see if they had received a bonus he did not get.

He was the subject of a disciplinary procedure at the bank, followed by an internal appeal and an external appeal. All three found he should be dismissed.

The case was complicated by Mr Purcell’s involvement in a “speak-out” whistleblower procedure at the bank.

In the months before he was dismissed he uncovered unusual accounting transactions and reported them. Though his anonymity was supposed to have been protected, some senior staff were told he was the whistleblower.

In its ruling the tribunal did not accept that his use of the “speakup” policy “had any bearing on the ultimate reasons” for his dismissal and it was “ muddying the waters”.

AIB was concerned there could be a perception whistleblowers could face having bonuses withheld or dismissal. The tribunal was “absolutely satisfied that this did not happen in this instance”.

The tribunal said Mr Purcell did not benefit from accessing the accounts and it was not for improper purposes .

The dismissal was “a disproportionate response” and a more reasonable approach would have been to suspend him without pay for six months, the tribunal said.

It directed that he would be “re-engaged into an appropriate department or branch” and be paid a salary “commensurate” to that paid before he was dismissed.

It also directed that his payment be backdated to six months after his dismissal, to keep in mind its recommended six months unpaid suspension sanction.