An international showjumper who was sacked after a row over her refusal to participate at an event in England has been awarded nearly €7,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
It heard how a "shouting match" developed between Diane Beecher and her employer, Noel Kavanagh, following her last-minute decision to pull out of the event at Hickstead in July 2002.
Ms Beecher, from Tallow, Co Waterford, decided on the day of the event not to jump her horse because she was afraid it was not ready for the water jump.
She told Mr Kavanagh that as the event was being televised the value of the horse would drop, and she was not prepared to make a fool of herself.
The decision angered her employer and, following a further confrontation between the pair two months later, Ms Beecher was dismissed.
Mr Kavanagh, a building contractor from Waterfall, Co Cork, told the tribunal that horses were his hobby but he had no background or experience in them.
A friend of his owned the Hickstead arena and invited him to take part in the competition in July 2002. He made arrangements to have the horse transported and to have a trainer present. The horse was entered in the Queen's Cup and Ms Beecher made no issue in advance of the fact that there would be a water jump.
When he was alerted to the problem on the day of the event, he asked Ms Beecher to jump, even if it was only a few fences, and to "tip her hat" and exit the arena if she wasn't happy.
She refused however, and a row ensued involving Mr Kavanagh, Ms Beecher, the trainer and Ms Beecher's father.
Ms Beecher told the tribunal she worked six to seven days a week at Mr Kavanagh's yard and represented Ireland abroad on numerous occasions.
She said she was dismissed in September 2002 after she asked Mr Kavanagh to settle some outstanding business issues with her father.
The tribunal said this conversation, initiated by Ms Beecher on September 13th, combined with the earlier difficulties at Hickstead, had led to her dismissal.
While certain aspects of Ms Beecher's behaviour at Hickstead had been unreasonable, Mr Kavanagh had failed to respond to the problems between them in an "appropriate manner".
It awarded her €4,500 for unfair dismissal, €1,975 due in annual leave and €263.40 for public holidays.
