Dunnes were right to sack assistant, Court decides
The Circuit Court has overturned an decision of the Employment Appeals Tribunal that claimed a Dunnes Stores worker was unfairly dismissed after selling alcohol to a 16-year-old girl
Print16 February 2016
The president of the Circuit Court, Mr. Justice Raymond Groarke, has overturned the decision of the Employment Appeals Tribunal to instruct Dunnes Stores to pay a former employee €16,000. The employee, Anna Perenc, had been dismissed after selling alcohol to a 16-year-old, who had made the purchase on the instructions of an undercover Garda.
The decision of the EAT was reversed by Justice Raymond, who agreed that Dunnes had a system in place specifically constructed to make sure alcohol was not sold to children – an act that constituted a crime – and that Dunnes, had followed proper procedures during the subsequent investigation and Ms. Perenc’s eventual dismissal.
“It is extremely important that retailers are seen not to sell alcohol to children,” Justice Groarke said. “Society doesn’t take kindly to shopkeepers who engage in that business and every retailers is entitled to take all reasonable steps to ensure mistakes are not made.”
The judge also accepted that while Ms. Perenc was aware of the risks involved with selling alcohol to minors, her actions were a mistake.
“It is difficult to see somebody lose their job,” he said, “but Dunnes had no choice and I uphold the appeal.”
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