A security officer at Arthur's Quay Shopping Centre in Limerick, who lost his £191-aweek job last year, claimed that he was unfairly dismissed because he had been appointed union shop steward and had brought on an industrial dispute with the company in 1989-90.
Mr Andrew O'Reilly, Danesford, Corbally, Limerick, told the Employment Appeals Tribunal at a resumed hearing yesterday: "My biggest regret is that I got involved in the union as it marked me out as a target. I feel I was unfairly treated because I was a shop steward."
He said he had been in security service for 13 years and had never before been reprimanded for any reason.
The company, Arthur's Quay Management Services, claimed that Mr O'Reilly was dismissed as a result of 25 parking vouchers, valued at £17.50, going missing over a six-month period up to last May. It was claimed that he had previously been warned about "unacceptable conduct".
Mr Pat Wallace, solicitor for the claimant, said that he had been unfairly treated. The vouchers, he said, were not numbered and were pieces of flimsy paper which were of no benefit to Mr O'Reilly. There had been no previous written warning on the matter. The question of theft had never been mentioned.
One of the "unacceptable conduct" complaints was, he said, that Mr O'Reilly had marked himself off duty at 5.50 one evening instead of 6 p.m.
He said that Mr Jim Kenny, the general manager, "took a very severe line with Mr O'Reilly and only a veneer of fair play had been exercised when he knew Mr O' Reilly could not explain the missing parking vouchers between October 1996 and May 1997."
Mr Adrian Beatty, industrial relations officer, IBEC, for the company, said that trust was a fundamental part of any security officer's job and this had broken down.
Mr Conor Lenihan, chairman, said that the tribunal would give its findings within the next few weeks.