Worker fired for taking socks from shelter is awarded €15k
A COMMUNITY worker who was sacked shortly before reaching retirement age for taking a pair of socks from a refugee shelter has been awarded €15,000 in compensation.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled that St Munchin’s Community Centre in Kileely, Limerick, had unfairly dismissed its employee, Geraldine O’Donnell, who claimed the incident was a simple misunderstanding.
WRC adjudication officer Niamh O’Carroll said the disciplinary process undertaken by the centre against a woman who had an unblemished work record of 27 years, ‘left a lot to be desired’.
Ms O’Donnell gave evidence that on the day of the incident, she had seen some socks on top of boxes in the reception area of the former St Lelia’s School in Kileely, which was being used for Ukrainian refugees.
She told the WRC that she had taken the socks because she thought they were going to be thrown out with the boxes.
She said she was suspended later that day after she was approached by centre manager Linda Ledger about the socks, and returned them immediately after being advised to do so.
The complainant said she could not believe it when she was fired and that her situation was ‘almost impossible’ as she cannot find a job because she is 65 and cannot claim the pension until she is 66.
A representative of St Munchin’s, Michael Cusack, who was asked by Ms Ledger to investigate the alleged misappropriation of the socks, said he had been informed a pair of socks were taken from art materials awaiting collection at reception.
He said he also spoke to Ms O’Donnell, who said she thought the materials were being thrown out as rubbish. Ms Ledger gave evidence that Hannah Boklach had asked her if they could look at the reception area’s CCTV as a pair of socks she had knitted for someone had been taken. She said the CCTV showed Ms O’Donnell taking the socks.
Ms Ledger said she showed the complainant the footage after she had denied taking anything.
The WRC heard Ms O’Donnell was dismissed on November 18, 2022, while her appeal against the decision was not upheld.
In her ruling, Ms O’Carroll said the complainant had provided a reasonable explanation for why she had taken the socks and her subsequent treatment was inappropriate in the circumstances.
The WRC claimed Ms Ledger should have considered proportionality in the sanction applied given that Ms O’Donnell had an unblemished work history of 27 years, as well as her explanation for taking the socks.
As Ms O’Donnell was fired 13 months before she was due to retire, the WRC said the appropriate compensation was €15,000.
Unblemished work record of 27 years