A Marks and Spencer worker whose staff discount credentials were used 73 times in six weeks after his wife secretly copied them and shared them with family and friends has won a challenge to his “disproportionate” dismissal.
A Workplace Relations Commission adjudicator ruled that Marks and Spencer was wrong to use the “nuclear option” by sacking sales advisor Mark Brennan from his job of over a decade, reports RTE.
A 50% reduced award of €2,000 was made to Mr Brennan under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, as the complainant “contributed significantly by his carelessness,” the adjudicator decided.
Judy McNamara of IBEC, representing M&S, submitted that internal auditors flagged “serious anomalies” with the use of Mr Brennan’s discount and notified local management, reports RTE.
In the six weeks from 31 October to 17 December 2024, the discount credentials were used 73 times, sometimes simultaneously at multiple geographical locations, Ms McNamara submitted.
Only one transaction in that time was linked to Mr Brennan’s own payment card, it was further submitted, reports RTE.
A company investigation began on 8 January 2025, and the internal disciplinary process concluded with Mr Brennan’s dismissal with notice on 6 February 2025, a sanction confirmed in March following an internal appeal hearing.
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Mr Brennan’s trade union representative, Mandate divisional organiser Eoin Coates, submitted: “The discount card had been, unbeknownst to him, copied by his then-domestic partner and made available to a wide circle of her family [and] acquaintances,” reports RTE.
Mr Brennan had immediately stopped his partner using the card when he learned what was happening and offered to pay his employer back for the €464.39 in shopping discounts claimed on his account, Mr Coates added.
Mr Brennan admitted he was “careless with the tablet computer” which had allowed his ex-partner access to the discount card credentials, the tribunal noted, reports RTE.
Mr Coates submitted that this “carelessness” occurred in the context of a husband-and-wife relationship and could not be considered a disciplinary breach serious enough to warrant the loss of his job.
The union official added that the WRC “would be setting a major precedent” if it decided Mr Brennan was to be held responsible for his ex-partner’s actions, reports RTE.
Adjudicator Michael McEntee noted the evidence of company managers that any abuse of the staff discount was viewed in “almost apocalyptic terms” at M&S.
Mr McEntee upheld Mr Brennan’s complaint in a decision published today, calling the dismissal an “excessive penalty,” reports RTE.
“It seemed excessive to classify as a dismissible offence, the act of allowing through carelessness your domestic partner to seriously misuse, unknown to the [worker], a staff discount scheme,” the adjudicator wrote.
“The complainant contributed significantly by his carelessness,” Mr McEntee added, reports RTE.
He noted Mr Brennan was quickly back at work for a competitor of M&S but faced a prospective loss of earnings totalling €4,600.
He decided headline redress for the dismissal was €4,000, but reduced that by 50% to €2,000 on the basis of Mr Brennan’s contribution to the dismissal, reports RTE.
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