More court reports in brief.
Boss of pizza restaurant denies claim
The boss of a chain of pizza restaurants has denied in court that he locked one of his managers into a room with him while he investigated the defacing of a customer's dinner bill at Milano's in Temple Bar, Dublin.
Mark Goode, senior operations manager of Pizza Express restaurants in Ireland, told Judge Doirbhile Flanagan in the Circuit Civil Court that he suspended Sarah Lynn McKenna after she admitted having torn off the bottom of a bill to mislead auditors.
The woman claimed she had put a complimentary mark on the wrong bill and tried to correct this.
Pizza Express Restaurants Ltd, of Uxbridge, England, had asked the court to overturn an unfair dismissals award of more than €62,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal to Ms McKenna, a 35-year-old mother of two, from Celbridge, Co Kildare, who managed the company's Milano's restaurant in Temple Bar, Dublin.
The Employment Appeals Tribunal decided Ms McKenna had been constructively dismissed.
Judge Flanagan has reserved her decision.
Bernard Dunleavy, counsel for the company, said the company denied unfairly dismissing Ms McKenna and claimed she voluntarily resigned after failing to attend a disciplinary hearing.
Mr Goode said that when auditors queried a bill he interviewed Ms McKenna about it. She said she had marked it complimentary after the customer had complained about a hair in a pizza but had not realised until later that she had marked the wrong bill.
Discovering her error she tore off the bottom part of the bill and she told him she had done this to mislead the auditors. Ms McKenna had denied this.
Woman settles asthma action
A woman who claimed she contracted severe occupational asthma as a result of working in a Donegal woollen factory has settled her High Court action for undisclosed damages.
Grace Harkin (38), of Falcarragh, Co Donegal, claimed she had to stop work at Comer Yarns (Donegal) Ltd factory at Derrybeg Industrial Estate after developing severe asthma.
Man jailed for drug possession
Joseph Duff (21) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday to having cocaine and cannabis valued at almost €100,000 on May 3rd, 2005, and to unlawful possession of a shotgun and ammunition on May 6th, 2006.
Judge Katherine Delahunt imposed terms of seven and three years to run concurrently on the drugs charges on Duff, of New Street Gardens, Dublin 8, and four years on the arms charge, but suspended this for five years on conditions.