A man has been ordered to pay his son €6,000 after an Employment Appeals Tribunal found he had unfairly dismissed him.
Despite a conflict of evidence about what happened between father and son at a family meeting, the tribunal found that Thomas O'Mahony, Albert Street, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, had been unfairly dismissed by Clonmel Wood Products.
In January, the tribunal was told Mr O'Mahony had worked in his father's wood-processing business since 1978. On January 15th, 2005, after he had finished work, Mr O'Mahony said his father had called a meeting with himself, his brother, who also worked there, and their two partners, his mother and his sister. His father told him: "You are f*****g sacked and don't bother coming back on Monday."
His father said it was a family business and he "was in charge". He had concerns about timekeeping. However, Mr O'Mahony said he had not received any warnings. The tribunal said yesterday it was "seemingly a confused meeting". It awarded Mr O'Mahony €1,200 in compensation for unfair dismissal and €4,800 in lieu of notice.