Fás case ends with apology and payment of €175,000

FÁS HAS settled a High Court dispute with its former director of health and safety on terms including payments to him of €175,000 and an apology from the State training agency. The settlement was made without admission of liability.

Fás had moved to dismiss Greg Craig following the findings of an internal report but he previously secured interim orders from the High Court preventing the agency from taking any further steps towards his dismissal.

Mr Craig, who claimed he was being made a scapegoat by the agency, also secured interim orders preventing Fás from making any disparaging comments to the media about him.

Fás, which had denied any wrongdoing, later agreed to give undertakings in the terms of the orders. When the proceedings came before Mr Justice John MacMenamin yesterday, the judge was told that what would have been a “lengthy, costly and complex” action had been resolved on terms following a mediation conducted by Mark Connaughton SC.

Those terms included an apology from Fás to Mr Craig in respect of adverse findings against the agency, made in a report commissioned by Fás, and Mr Craig’s acknowledgment that his employment with Fás had terminated.

Mr Craig, who was director of corporate affairs at Fás before becoming director of health and safety, will also receive payments of €125,000 from Fás and a contribution of €50,000 towards his legal costs. He will also receive €75,000 as an ex gratia payment for the termination of his employment, €35,000 in respect of annual leave and €15,000 as general damages, the court heard.

Brian Murray SC, for Fás, said Mr Craig had also agreed he has no right to take up employment with Solas, the new education and training body to replace Fás.

Fás also apologised to Mr Craig in respect of adverse findings against the agency made in an independent report by consultancy firm Mazars. This had investigated grievances raised by Mr Craig concerning his employment with Fás.The parties have both agreed to waive confidentiality and to consent to Mazars releasing information relating to Fás to satisfy any queries made by the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee.

Mr Craig, Greenlea Grove, Terenure, Dublin, had brought his action against Fás after being told in early September he was being dismissed following an internal investigation. The court was told Mr Craig had locked himself in his office on September 5th to study an internal report by Ignatius Lynam when Fás assistant director Conor Dunne pushed in the door and told him he was firing him with immediate effect.

It was claimed Mr Dunne had said he had studied the Lynam report and it had established serious breaches of procedure, Mr Craig was going to be fired and was to leave the premises and hand in his keys.

Mr Craig’s lawyers obtained an interim injunction restraining Fás from taking any steps to further implement the purported dismissal and making or communicating or publishing any adverse or disparaging statements concerning him.

It was claimed Mr Craig had been made a scapegoat by Fás and was continually being offered up to the media.

Mr Craig also claimed Fás sought to avoid a commitment to apologise and pay him compensation for damage caused to him.

Mr Craig said outside court it was very important to him that Fás had apologised publicly in court and that the contents of the Mazars report would be put into the public domain and that those responsible for the wrongdoing would be “dealt with as soon as possible”.