Man fired over sexual messages gets €22.5к

Manager's conduct wrong, but reaction was 'excessive'

- BY SEAN MCCARTHAIGH

A FINANCIAL services executive who was fired after posting sexually explicit messages from the mobile phones of two female colleagues has been awarded €22,500 in compensation for unfair dismissal.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled the procedures used to dismiss the operation's manager were flawed and unfair “from beginning to end.”

The WRC found the company’s conclusion that the manager's conduct was “highly severe sexual harassment” was “excessive” and “not proportional.”

It heard evidence the manager had taken the phone from the desk of a colleague - known as Employee A - on January 30, 2024 and sent a sexually explicit WhatsApp message to her husband.