An Irish-based tech firm which invoked German law to get rid of a 67-year-old sales executive after she refused an “ultimatum” from her boss to either retire or go back to working full-time hours has been ordered to pay her just under €124,000.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) said cybersecurity company Integrity360 Europe Ltd acted in “flagrant” breach of legal protections for part-time workers when it dismissed the worker, Helen Holland, last April – as well as discriminating against her on age grounds.
She told the WRC she was made to feel “old, irrelevant and unimportant” and “a nuisance” by a new manager brought in following the 2023 buyout of her original employer, Advantio Limited by Integrity360.
Ms Holland joined the firm in a sales role in 2017 and was promoted to key account manager in 2020, covering a territory in mainland Europe and the UK. She lived and worked chiefly in Germany, received her salary into a German bank account, paid German taxes and took German public holidays, the tribunal heard.
In April 2022, Ms Holland reached the age of 65, which was referred to in her contract of employment as the company’s retirement age. However, the evidence before the WRC was that the retirement clause was not triggered at that time.
Ms Holland’s position was that this was an agreement that she would work on, with no set retirement date. The former managing director of the firm wrote in a March 2023 email that it was “too much of a risk to let Helen retire” within six months, the tribunal heard.
Following the July 2023 buyout of Advantio, Ms Holland got a new line manager, Matt Tomlinson, in November that year. The WRC concluded that in discussions about her position with Mr Tomlinson, Ms Holland was “given an ultimatum and told that if she did not return to full time working ... then she would have to retire”.
She was terminated “without cause” on 30th April last year, a move the company’s lawyers submitted had been “pursuant to German law”.
The firm argued that the WRC ought to reject jurisdiction on the basis that Ms Holland’s job contract referred to both Irish and German law, and that this “ambiguity” required the claim be heard in Germany, where Ms Holland lived, rather than in Ireland, where the company was registered.
Adjudicator Pat Brady concluded Ms Holland had the right to choose, and “had chosen Ireland”.
He wrote that the company had been “open and blatant” about the termination of Ms Holland’s part-time contract and ruled its actions a “flagrant breach” of the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001, awarding €88,800 for the breach.
He awarded a further €35,000 for age discrimination in breach of Employment Equality Act 1998, he awarded Ms Holland a further €35,000 – bringing the total awarded in the claim to €123,800.
Tiernan Lowey BL appeared for Ms Holland, briefed by Hayes Solicitors. Michael McCormack BL was instructed by William Fry for the employer.
