A Northern Ireland industrial tribunal has awarded £45,000 to Martin Sheil, a former employee of Stena Line. The award was made as a result of the harassment and discrimination that Mr Sheil suffered because of his sexual orientation. Mr Sheil complained to the tribunal that he had been unfairly dismissed.
The tribunal stated that that “the flaws in the investigatory and disciplinary procedure rendered the dismissal substantively unfair” and that Stena Line had “adopted a far too passive approach to unpleasant banter”. The tribunal held that the company did not properly investigate the harassment that led to the incident where Mr Sheil was dismissed.
The tribunal did consider that Mr Sheil had partly contributed to his dismissal by taking action himself against the abuse and not reporting it to management. On this basis, his award was reduced by 10%.
Stena Line has lodged its appeal against the tribunal’s decision.
Mr Sheil is happy with the tribunal’s decision; “I worked hard to keep my private and work life separate. I endured months of abuse in silence. The reason I took this case was to try and make sure that others don’t have to go through this”.
Dr Michael Wardlow, chief commissioner of the North’s Equality Commission has also welcomed the decision. He stated that the decision “posts a warning to all employers that they must take active steps to ensure that their policies against harassment and discrimination are known, understood and practised by their entire workforce”.
Click here to read a report about the case in the Irish Times.
Click here to read a report about the case on the Northern Ireland Equality Commission's website.