A woman who sued her ex-husband for unfair dismissal has been awarded €9,500 by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
The Irish Mirror reports that the woman was fired by her ex-husband after a series of 'top-up' transfers both in cash and from the company's business account to the couple's personal joint account totalling €55,410 were exposed by an independent investigator in 2019.
The woman said everything was "stripped from her" on her return from vacation in February 2019, including her job and access to the company's cash and cards.
The publican claimed he had no control over the bank account, however, the woman said she had always transferred the money in a transparent manner.
Most of the transactions were said to have taken place after the couple had separated.
The complainant denied the misappropriation of funds, stating that an accountant from the pub's accountancy firm said that she could top up her wages by withdrawals of €1,000.
WRC Adjudication Officer, Anne McElduff, noted that the woman should have considered the impact of the withdrawals, however, there was no express mention in the investigator's findings of misappropriation of the monies withdrawn.
The WRC ruled in the woman's favour as the publican had failed to forewarn her in advance that she may be dismissed. The publican was instructed to pay the woman a total of €9,500.
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