A group of restaurant workers left jobless in the wake of the fatal shooting of gangland figure Jason Hennessy snr and the murder of the gunman who had shot him have secured orders worth more than €100,000 for employment rights breaches by their ex-employer. í
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has ruled that the operating company of Browne’s Steakhouse breached employment law by failing to pay statutory redundancy to six former employees after the restaurant shut down on the night of the shooting on Christmas Eve 2023.
Three men have been convicted of the murder of gunman Tristan Sherry (26) after he fatally shot Hennessy in the busy restaurant that night. Michael Andrecut (23) of Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown, received the mandatory life term at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday.
David Amah (19) of Hazel Grove, Portrane Road, Donabate, and a third man from Blanchardstown, who is now aged 18 but was 17 when charged with the offence, were also convicted of murder but are not subject to the mandatory sentence. Their sentences are due to be finalised at a later stage.
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The restaurant’s ex-general manager told the tribunal last month that its owner, Gregory Browne, was planning to open up again on New Year’s Eve, seven days on from the attack.
The employee told him she still was too traumatised to do as he asked, the WRC heard.
San Siro Ltd, which is owned by local restaurateur Gregory Browne, operated the steakhouse until its closure on December 24th, 2023. The premises in Blanchardstown Village, Dublin 15, reopened as a restaurant under new management last year.
The business was also found in breach of provisions on working time and notice pay in the cases of three of the workers, whose cases have just been published by the WRC.
General manager Vjola Ajredini, waitress Adisa Ajredini, and assistant manager Amanda Ajredini, had pursued claims under the Redundancy Payments Act, the Organisation of Working Time Act and the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act.
Vjola Ajredini told the WRC she had been unemployed and on illness benefit ever since the Christmas Eve attack in the steakhouse. She explained that she had to seek treatment for severe anxiety as a direct result of what happened.
She said in her evidence that Mr Browne contacted her five days after the shooting in the hope of getting the restaurant back open on New Year’s Eve.
When she told him she was traumatised because of what happened and didn’t feel well enough to go back, she said Mr Browne “demanded the keys back”.
Her daughter, Adisa Ajredini, said she was out of work until September 2024 and “used up all her savings before she found another job”.
The three women each said they gave Mr Browne notice by sending claim forms by registered post in May and June 2024, saying that they believed a situation of redundancy had arisen owing to the continued closure of the restaurant.
When they again got no response, they filed complaints to the WRC seeking the payment of redundancy lump sums, unpaid notice and compensation for breaches of working time legislation, the tribunal noted.
Mr Browne did not attend when the three women’s cases were called on at the tribunal, in common with three prior cases brought by his former staff since the closure.
Adjudicator Catherine Byrne upheld all of the three women’s complaints. She awarded them sums of between €1,032 and €6,154, varying by length of service for unpaid statutory notice – the largest sum going to Vjola Ajredini, who had worked there more than 16 years.
She also directed the payment of compensation of between €507.70 and €2,234 for breaches of the working time legislation.
In all, the latest tranche of decisions brings the total sum due to ex-Browne’s staff for their redundancy entitlements to more than €86,000. The further awards for notice pay and working time breaches bring the total due to ex-staff to €102,001.
