Former Lord Mayor of Dublin makes unfair dismissal claim against hotel
Wednesday, July 4th, 2012A former Lord Mayor of Dublin is claiming compensation from a hotel after being sacked as general manager.
Royston Brady, who served as mayor of the Irish capital between 2003 and 2004, worked for nearly two years at Dublin’s Roganstown Hotel and Country Club. He was sacked in the summer of 2010.
He has now launched a claim for unfair dismissal at the Employment Appeals Tribunal, seeking compensation.
According to Mr Brady, he questioned bosses about the fact that money was being taken from wedding parties to cover late alcohol licences, but the money did not go to the State.
He told the tribunal he was not involved in applying for special exemption orders.
Mr Brady received an email on 9 July 2010, from the hotel’s managing director Ian McGuinness. He said he understood Mr Brady would be leaving the company and served him with his notice.
At the time Mr Brady had been mentioned as a possible candidate for the directly elected position as mayor of Dublin.
Although Mr Brady said he had never hidden his political interests from his employers, he had not decided to leave the post to organise an election campaign.
He asked Mr McGuinness whether the email was related to the issues raised by him about late licences.
He added: “There was a tirade of abuse directed at me at that stage.
“I was quite upset and taken aback.”
Mr Brady wrote a letter of resignation to Mr McGuiness before returning to work the next day.
Mr Brady told the tribunal he wrote the letter as it would have been bad for any potential political career if it looked like he had been sacked.
Then, on 12 July, he told Mr McGuinness he was planning to return approximately €550 (£442) to a recently married couple as there had been no late licence.
Mr McGuinness then allegedly called him and told him he was “f***ing sacked”.
Mr Conroy, representing Mr Brady, told the tribunal that Mr McGuinness had reacted with fury to his client.
He continued: “He was fired.
“And he was essentially frog-marched off the premises.”
Judy McNamara, acting on behalf of Mr McGuinness, said concerns had been raised months earlier about Mr Brady’s performance.
Mr McGuinness said he had raised the issue with Mr Brady at a meeting in 2010, adding: “He (Mr Brady) agreed that his performance hadn’t been everything it should have been.”
The case has been adjourned until September.
