€40,000 award for Unfair Dismissal
Delay in replying to email not a reasons for summary dismissal.
An Insurance official who failed to attend to an email until the day after it was received was summarily dismissed for Gross Misconduct.
It was found by the Employment Appeals Tribunal that his actions did not amount to Misconduct justifying summsry dismissal.
The Employee worked in a company where patients were sent abroad for medical treatment. emails relating to urgent evacuations were to be placed in the"evacuation box", but instead was placed in the "medical pending queue".
The employee actioned the email the following day as soon as it came to his attention in the normal course of events.
While there had been a complaint from the client, there were no actual negative effects on the clients health.
The Tribunal found the employee had acted in a prefessional and proper manner and awarded him the sum of €40,000.
