A CARPENTER had the end of his nose bitten off and spat into a toilet bowl when he squeezed a workmate’s testicles, the Circuit Civil Court has heard.
The bizarre confrontation at a Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul health centre, Navan Road, Dublin, was outlined before Judge Jacqueline Linnane yesterday.
She heard that Tony Casey, Collins Avenue West, Donnycarney, Dublin, and Michael Shadlow, St John’s Avenue, Naas, Co Kildare, had been awarded almost €50,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal by the nuns following a fight.
The centre is appealing an award of €28,000 to Mr Shadlow and €20,000 to Mr Casey by the Employment Appeals Tribunal earlier this year.
Tom Mallon, counsel for the charity, said both men had been carpenters at the centre which caters for 400 children and adults with moderate, severe and profound intellectual disabilities.
There had been a serious incident of mutual physical violence in October 2005, in which Mr Shadlow had a piece of his nose bitten off by Mr Casey who in turn alleged he had been assaulted in a very serious way by Mr Shadlow.
Mr Mallon said the incident had led to the dismissal of both men. The tribunal took the view that the charity’s failure to determine who had been the instigator led to them having been unfairly dismissed, coupled with evidence that there had been some bad feeling between them for a number of years.
“The law states that violence in the workplace is, practically in all cases, a dismissible offence and that bad feeling doesn’t allow them to engage in unacceptable conduct,” Mr Mallon said. “Their conduct was unacceptable and constituted gross misconduct.”
Sr Marian Hart, the centre’s administrator and director of nursing, said she received a phone call on the day about the incident and she and nurse manager Breda Noonan went to the worksheds.
“I realised Michael had a serious bite on his nose and that a piece of the nose was actually missing,” Sr Hart said. She found the piece in a nearby toilet bowl which had not been flushed.
She had him escorted to the Mater hospital by another workman who had taken the piece of nose with him in a sterile bag.
Mr Casey had been in a crouched position with his head in his hands and was very distressed. He told her Mr Shadlow had caught him by the testicles for about a minute and had head- butted him three times. He said he had bitten Mr Shadlow’s nose.
Sr Hart said the charity’s employees had bought into the ethos of the Daughters of Charity of respect and dignity for each other and each person.
The people who attended the centre were vulnerable and such behaviour would have a detrimental effect on them. Many modelled their behaviour on what they experienced.
She told Conor Kearney, for Mr Casey, that it was difficult to establish who had started the trouble.
The case continues.