Sales director wins almost €170,000 in unfair dismissal – The Irish Times

A US multinational software company has been ordered to pay compensation of almost €170,000 to a senior Irish executive following an unfair dismissal ruling by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

The award was made after a US-based in-house lawyer for the company testified and admitted that he had failed to check Irish employment law before rejecting an appeal to dismiss the commercial director, who was its longest-serving employee in Europe.

Kevin Foley, former senior sales director for Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) at Digital River Ireland Ltd, had claimed the decision to let him go was made as part of a “sham” process which should never have involved its leaders from the United States. current supervisor, who, according to him, had benefited from this move.

Mass layoffs were announced at Digital River Group on July 19, 2022 – but Mr Foley said his former boss, the company’s former senior vice president of sales, told him he would not there would be “more changes in Europe” by that date – and asked him to convey this message to his direct reports, the court was told.

He told WRC he thought after getting a retention bonus in August 2022 he would stay on until the following spring – only to be told the following month he was at risk of being fired after spent three weeks working on a plan to restructure the organization’s sales. operation.

“To this day, I still don’t know what happened in the company to make this drastic change, to be told I was no longer part of the company,” he said at the Workplace Relations Commission earlier this week.

Mr. Foley’s lawyer, Anne O’Connell, argued that Digital River’s termination process was a predetermined “sham” because Mr. Foley’s former supervisor, the head of the U.S. sales team , should have run the risk of being fired himself. Instead, the manager took a direct role in the process and ended up taking on the plaintiff’s management responsibilities for Europe, she argued.

Denying the claim on behalf of the company, the company’s lawyer, Alison Fynes BL, appearing instructed by solicitor Niall Pelly of GQ Littler, said Mr Foley had been informed of what was happening “on numerous occasions ” but “just didn’t like the answer.”

“I was not given an answer as to why this happened throughout the consultation period and I still have not been given an answer as to what happened that led to flattening the sales team,” Mr. Foley said in response to this.

He was dismissed on October 19, 2022, after three consultation meetings and the rejection of his proposed change of position, dismissal confirmed by the firm on appeal.

During a series of remote hearings in late 2023 and earlier this year – some held late into the evening to accommodate participants calling from the company’s US headquarters near Minneapolis – the head of human resources ( HR) of Digital River, Becky Garroch, its corporate legal assistant. Andrew Hedden and another member of his management team, Ted Rogers, each testified.

However, Mr Foley’s former supervisor did not show up.

Mr Foley was offered to appeal the dismissal decision to Digital River’s in-house lawyer, Mr Hedden. He was questioned about his handling of the matter by WRC referee Jim Dolan at a hearing last September, with Mr Dolan noting that the call had been made under a procedure “sort of ex parte, on paper” and that no oral hearing had taken place. .

Mr Hedden acknowledged Mr Foley “personally felt there was a grievance” about the way the company had dismissed him.

“In preparation for your investigation into the facts, have you studied the complainant’s employment contract? » asked Mr. Dolan.

“Not at that time, no,” Mr. Hedden said.

“Have you ever read the Irish redundancy legislation?” » asked the referee.

“Not as part of the review of the appeal, no,” Mr. Hedden replied.

Mr. Dolan argued to counsel that Mr. Foley’s employment contract referred to the right to have a “genuine” grievance heard by a superior and the right to be accompanied by a colleague at the hearing. ‘call.

Mr Hedden responded that Digital River’s dismissal procedures provided for a “written appeal procedure” separate from the grievance procedure referred to by Ms O’Connell and Mr Dolan.

“I think it’s up to me,” Mr. Dolan told the witness.

In his decision, published this morning by the WRC (TUES), Mr Dolan noted that Mr Hedden had been asked at the hearing whether he had “checked whether there was national legislation on this subject” .

“He responded that he had not verified this,” Mr. Dolan wrote.

He also noted that at the time of the call, Mr. Hedden was a cadet among those who decided to fire Mr. Foley, which he called “unusual.”

“The defendant’s failure to hold an appeal hearing with the plaintiff at which he could be accompanied constitutes a serious failure and a violation of its own procedures and policies,” Mr. Dolan wrote.

Although he found there had been a genuine redundancy situation at Digital River, Mr Dolan said the appeal process was “so flawed” that Mr Foley’s complaint under the Act the unfair dismissals of 1977 were founded.

Mr Dolan added that Mr Foley had made a “very positive effort” to find new employment and had secured a suitable position within eight months of his dismissal.

He accepted a loss figure of €168,682.09 presented by Mr Foley’s lawyer, Ms O’Connell, and awarded the sum to Digital River.