Redundancy and Procedural Flaws – Pre-Prepared Signed Letter Leads to Award of €25,000

Despite numerous cases being published in respect of redundancy procedures not being carried our correctly, employers continue to make mistakes in this area. In the recently published case of LM v Galmere Fresh Foods Limited UD 493/2013, the claimant was awarded €25,000 in respect of a claim for unfair dismissal whereby he claimed the redundancy was not genuine and proper procedure was not followed. His role had been subsumed by the managing director. The Tribunal concluded:”The Tribunal, having carefully considered the evidence adduced at the hearing by both parties, is of the view that no meaningful engagement or consultation process took place in this case. The respondent failed to provide evidence of giving any adequate consideration to alternatives and never gave the claimant the opportunity to come up with suggestions on saving his role in the company.It appears from the evidence, which was not refuted by the respondent, that a pre-prepared signed letter was given to the claimant at the final meeting advising him of his redundancy.In all the circumstances the Tribunal finds that the claimant was unfairly dismissed. The Tribunal awards the claimant €25,000.00 under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 to 2007″