An accountant has secured more than €145,000 in compensation after winning an unfair dismissal case against her employer.

Maria Inmaculada De La Torre Ruiz secured the award from Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) after her former employer, Hamilton UK Services Ltd, “refused” to give her a reason for terminating her employment.

De La Torre Ruiz was hired as a financial accountant in July 2021. By the time of her termination, she was on a base salary of €63,000.

In July 2023, she was informed that she would be dismissed and was paid three months’ notice in lieu. She was not told of any reason behind the decision, and asserted that it had been unfair.

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The WRC upheld that the decision had been unfair, and Hamilton UK Services admitted that she had been dismissed “without cause”.

It must now pay an award at the maximum jurisdiction of the WRC, which is two years of the worker’s total remuneration, including salary, pension and professional association fees. This amounts to €145,122.

Adjudication officer Breiffni O’Neill wrote in his judgment that De La Torre Ruiz had found it “extremely challenging” to find a new permanent job after how she had been dismissed.

“Jobseekers are typically asked in interviews about the reasons for leaving their most recent permanent position.

“Potential employers would be very reluctant to offer the complainant a permanent role, especially a reasonably well-paid one, if she is unable to explain, because of the respondent’s refusal to do so, why she was dismissed,” he said.

She had been unable to find a new role in the 18 months since her dismissal, “despite her extensive attempts to do so”.
Hamilton UK Services’ representative had counter-argued that De La Torre Ruiz had not mitigated her loss of earnings and that the award should reflect this.

In response, O’Neill added: “Focusing solely on the complainant’s efforts to mitigate her loss would be wholly inappropriate in this case however, given that the respondent, by dismissing her without cause, has dealt a severe blow to her future job prospects as outlined above.”

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