Two managers of a pub and restaurant in Co Clare, who were sacked following the death of a customer in the bar's lavatory, have been awarded more than £20,000 by an employment appeals tribunal.
Mr John Hogan and Ms Maeve Breen were dismissed from Mollys bar and restaurant in Killaloe following the death from natural causes of Mr John Byrnes (65) in a cubicle at the pub in October last year.
The body was not discovered for almost three days in what the pub owner, Mr Barnaby Ross, described as "a monumental management blunder of epic proportions".
In his evidence to the tribunal hearing in April this year, Mr Hogan said the incident occurred after a lavatory cubicle was vandalised the night before Mr Byrne died and an "out of order" sign was placed on the cubicle door.
He told the tribunal the lavatories were normally cleaned every morning and were cleaned every morning in the week in question. He said the sign on the door had been ripped down.
Mr Hogan said he accepted he was ultimately responsible for lock-up when he was on duty, but expected members of the bar staff to follow his instructions.
Ms Breen said it was not her responsibility to check the men's lavatories, and she had never entered them in the five years she had worked at the pub.
Mr Ross told the tribunal there was a supervisory responsibility on managers, and the failure in this case had had a serious impact on the family, staff and business itself.
However, he denied sacking the managers and said they had resigned following the incident. This was disputed by the two managers.
In its determination the tribunal noted that the tragic circumstances surrounding the case had created a lot of trauma and emotional and personal feelings rarely experienced in the workplace.
It found the claimants had been unfairly dismissed according to the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 to 1993.
However, it also considered the claimants were not entirely blameless in the events that ultimately resulted in their employment coming to an end.
Mr Hogan was awarded £13,500 and Ms Breen £7,620.
When contacted by The Irish Times yesterday Mr Ross would not comment on the ruling.