Wojciech had been working at a manufacturing company in Cork for over four years. He was a reliable, hardworking member of a six-person team and had never had any complaints about his performance. Then one morning, his manager called him in and told him he was being made redundant. When Wojciech asked why him and not the others, he was told the decision had already been made — no explanation, no criteria, nothing. That afternoon, he noticed something that made his stomach drop: the other five people kept in the team were all Irish nationals.
Wojciech felt the decision was unfair, but he wasn't sure if he had any legal protection. He'd been living and working in Ireland long enough to know his rights mattered, and this didn't sit right. The company had given him no selection criteria whatsoever — not performance, not seniority, not skill set. Just a redundancy notice. He decided to bring a claim to see whether Irish employment law would protect him from what he believed was discrimination.
When the case went to the Employment Appeals Tribunal, the evidence was clear. Wojciech had been singled out without any objective reason. The employer couldn't point to any fair process they'd followed. The tribunal found that his selection for redundancy was based on his nationality as a non-Irish national, which is unlawful under Irish and EU equality law. His claim was upheld, and he was awarded compensation for unfair dismissal and discrimination.
The case sent an important message: employers cannot use redundancy as a cover for discriminatory decisions. If you're selected for redundancy, the employer must show they used fair, transparent selection criteria — applied equally to everyone. Nationality, immigration status, or any other protected characteristic can never be the real reason.