- Padraic Hanley awarded €75,549 by Labour Court for whistleblower penalisation
- Four protected disclosures made in March 2020 concerning financial and safety issues
- Labour Court found dismissal would not have occurred but for protected disclosures
- Company did not appear before Labour Court; redundancy defence rejected
- Hanley’s three sons previously awarded over €117,000 in separate WRC rulings
Padraic Hanley, founder of PBR Restaurants Ltd which operates the Fish Shack restaurant chain in Dublin, has won a Labour Court ruling for whistleblower penalisation under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, awarding him €75,549. The ruling concludes a five-year legal battle following the company’s entry into examinership in August 2019 and subsequent takeover by new investors.
The Labour Court found Hanley made four protected disclosures between March 3 and March 19, 2020, concerning cash-in-hand payments to a chef, operating during an orange storm warning, using an unregistered gas installer for a leak, and late-night management emails. Hanley was laid off on March 19, 2020, on the stated basis of the Covid-19 pandemic and not recalled when other staff returned. The company did not appear before the Labour Court.
The Labour Court determined that the dismissal would not have occurred but for the protected disclosures and rejected the company’s argument of redundancy. The High Court previously set aside an earlier Labour Court ruling and remitted the case for rehearing. Hanley’s three sons received over €117,000 in redress from the Workplace Relations Commission in separate rulings.
