A gardener who worked at the Mount Congreve estate, Co Waterford, has been awarded £8,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal. It found he was unfairly dismissed after being found relaxing under a tree when he should have been working.
The dismissal of Mr Paul Keane in June sparked an industrial dispute at the Kilmeaden estate which ended yesterday when the 11 SIPTU members concerned returned to work.
Management at the estate, which is famous for its gardens, said Mr Keane was dismissed after being found "stretched out" under a tree some distance from where he should have been working. He had received written warnings about his conduct.
However, the tribunal, which heard evidence last month, said none of the offences complained of by the estate warranted Mr Keane's dismissal. "The handling of the matter by management, particularly in relation to the issue of final written warnings, left a lot to be desired," it said in a written decision received on Tuesday.
Mr Keane had received three or four such warnings - the exact number was disputed - between 1996 and this year. Mr Herman Dool, the estate's woodland director, confirmed in evidence that he had never dismissed anyone after a third warning.
The tribunal's decision was welcomed by SIPTU official Mr David Lane, who said the 11 union members on strike for the past 13 weeks felt vindicated.
Both parties had appeared to indicate at the conclusion of the hearing that reinstatement was the preferred option should the tribunal find in Mr Keane's favour. It is understood, however, that the estate's legal representatives subsequently wrote to the tribunal and indicated that this option was not favoured by management.
Mr Keane had claimed that his dismissal was the result of a management vendetta against him because of a personal injury claim he made against the company in 1995. However, the tribunal found that no satisfactory evidence other than suggestions and innuendo had been presented to support the vendetta claim.
The 500-acre estate is owned by Mr Ambrose Congreve (92), whose family built Mount Congreve House nearly 300 years ago. Under deeds drawn up in 1979, the house and gardens were transferred to the Mount Congreve Trust and the Commissioners of Public Works were added to the nominated trustees, meaning effectively that the State will eventually become guardian.
