This article is from page 16 of the 2007-08-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
A CHEF in an Ennis hotel was dis- missed after he threw a knife at a co- worker during an outburst, the Em- ployment Appeals Tribunal heard.
The claim that the tribunal was hearing concerned the woman who had the knife thrown at her, claiming She had been dismissed because she asked for shorter hours after becom- ing pregnant.
Patrice O’Shaughnessy, Ballycu- min, Raheen, Limerick, took the case against the West County Hotel under the Unfair Dismissals Act.
During the hearing, members of the ‘Tribunal were told that, O’Shaughnessy, who worked in the kitchens, had a butter knife thrown at her, hitting her in the back, by a fel- low chef after she refused to make a
sandwich for a customer, telling him it was not her job.
The chef was subsequently fired, the hearing was told.
She was a part-time worker who nonetheless worked up to 50 hours per week, the tribunal heard.
In autumn 2005 there, the claimant found she was pregnant and asked the then head chef for a shorter work- ing week. She claimed that when she asked to work just two days, the head chef told her that if she could not work three days, he would have to find somebody else.
On October 27, the claimant said, she was at home in bed when she was phoned and told that she had been rostered to be at work.
Having not been in for the previous week, she was not aware that she was on that day, but got up and went to V0) 0.@
Another employee had been asked to ring her and tell her she was work- ing but had not done so, she said.
O’Shaughnessy said that the head chef told her to get her things and get o)bia
The hotel denied dismissing the claimant. The head chef said that he did not tell her that she would have to work three days or be gone.
On 27 October, the tribunal heard, the night porter rang the head chef at home at 6.20am. There were over 100 guests in the hotel and no-one from the staff to prepare breakfast. He denied dismissing the claimant.
The tribunal found that the claim- ant was dismissed but was not satis- fied that the dismissal was related to the fact that the claimant was preg- nant. But it did find that the claim- ant had an entitlement to a minimum notice payment of €254.36.