Manager Sacked For Allowing Staff Member To Smoke (26/09/06)

A manager of a leading supermarket chain was sacked after he allowed a member of staff to smoke in the canteen at the company's store at Douglas Shopping Centre, Cork. Tesco sacked manager Paul Collins for gross misconduct after he turned a blind eye when a staff member upset his father was dying lit a cigarette in the canteen

The details of the sacking emerged at an employment appeals tribunal into unfair dismissal. Initially Paul Collins the night shift manager at the Cork store was suspended for one week and subsequently sacked after the incident was reviewed by Tesco head office in the UK. According to Mr Collins the staff member in question was very upset as his father was seriously ill and expected to die. He allowed the member of staff to smoke because of his personal circumstances " I think I behaved as a compassionate man would have in the circumstances" said Mr Collins. However, his employers Tesco did not see it this way and duly sacked him for failing to prevent smoking in the canteen after the incident was reported by a security guard.

The smoking incident which led to the sacking occurred at 2 am in the store's canteen. The manager, a security guard and a staff member were in the canteen when the staff member lit up a cigarette. The security guard took issue with the smoking staff member after the manager Paul Collins took no action. The staff member who had been told by the security guard to stop smoking moved to the window and continued to smoke there. An argument then occurred between the security guard and manager over the incident. The security guard reported the incident to the manager's superiors who dismissed him for "wilfully allowing another member of staff to smoke."

The Tribunal on hearing all the facts in the unfair dismissal case brought by Mr Collins found in his favour stating his dismissal was a "disproportionate sanction." The tribunal ruled that Tesco had not given weight to the facts in the case a reasonable employer would have and awarded Mr Collins €27,000 for unfair dismissal.