‘Firm right to sack foot-wash worker’

A MANUFACTURER of medical devices sacked a worker after he washed his feet in a container used for food in the factory canteen.

Martin Conroy sued for unfair dismissal against Baxter Healthcare and now the Employment Appeals Tribunal has found that the company was justified in sacking the long-serving worker.

It was reasonable for Baxter to conclude that Mr Conroy’s actions amounted to gross misconduct, the EAT found, stating that what the employee did in washing his feet in the stainless steel container used for serving food represented ‘unacceptable behaviour in the workplace’.

Mr Conroy commenced working with the firm in 1977 and was promoted and moved to the Swinford base of the company in Co. Mayo in 1989 and was employed as an electrical craftsman. The unfair dismissal case was heard on eight separate days in Castlebar between April 25, 2016, and June 14 last. And Mr Conroy told the tribunal that the decision to sack him in May 2014 was too harsh in the circumstances.

Mr Conroy said that because of his diabetes, his doctor advised him that his feet were susceptible to burning and sores.

Mr Conroy told the tribunal that he had taken to bathing his feet while working but only for medical purposes. Under crossexamination, Mr Conroy admitted, in hindsight, it had been wrong of him to use the utensil from the canteen to bathe his feet.

The EAT concluded: ‘The tribunal is of the opinion that the respondent dealt with the issue fairly and that it was not motivated by any other agenda.’