A senior AIB bank official has told an unfair dismissals hearing he had an "open mind" in assessing disciplinary charges against a manager who claims he was bullied out of the job he had held for 40 years.
Sean McHugh, from Barna, Co Galway, is taking a case for unfair dismissal against his former employer, alleging he was fired after making complaints about his manager.
On Monday, an Employment Appeals tribunal heard from AIB regional manager Brendan O’Brien, who held an oral hearing in 2013 into charges of alleged misconduct by Mr McHugh in relation to his handling of certain accounts.
The bank’s letter to Mr McHugh on May 9th of that year alleged a number of charges of misconduct under the bank’s code of conduct. It alleged a conflict of interest between his involvement in the affairs of Galway United Football Club and persons associated with it and the interests of the bank.
Mr McHugh was the club’s licensing officer – a role held in a voluntary capacity, the tribunal has heard.
Breach alleged
Among other charges, AIB also alleged a breach of discretion on Mr McHugh’s part in relation to accessing the account details of a number of customers.
In 2010 the bank conducted a credit review which highlighted “some concerns”, the tribunal had previously heard.
Seamus O’Sullivan, a manager of the bank’s special investigations unit, was asked the following year to carry out an internal investigation into Mr McHugh’s handling of the accounts in question.
Under examination by Brian O'Moore SC for the bank on Monday, Brendan O'Brien, one of nine regional managers with AIB, said he did not at the time of the oral hearing he held with Mr McHugh in 2013 consider himself bound by the findings of Mr O'Sullivan's earlier report and the charges set out.
“I felt I had a completely open mind with regard to any decision I might reach regarding the contents of the report,” he said.
Final decision-maker
Mr O’Brien, who was the final decision-maker in the bank’s internal disciplinary process, said everybody associated with the case was “doing the best job they could”.
“If there was any difference of opinion I would have regarded that as reasonable and not as something I had to avoid by any means,” he said.
“I could identify myself with Mr McHugh quite a lot because we had similar levels of service in AIB.”
Mr O’Brien said they had gone through similar experiences throughout their careers in the organisation.
“In effect, it could have been me in his position. I took the contents of the report and the potential consequences for Mr McHugh very seriously.”
‘Loyal servant’
The tribunal has heard Mr McHugh was a “loyal servant” who had begun working with AIB when he was 17. His gross weekly income was €2,298 in his role as a senior bank manager in the Galway Business Centre.
Mr McHugh claims his manager, John Heapes, was a "huge player" in his dismissal.
Mr McHugh, represented at the hearing by Ercus Stewart SC, denies any conflict of interest, and has said he never had any day-to-day involvement with the running of the football club. He was suspended from AIB in September 2012 and was dismissed in March 2014.
The hearing was adjourned to February 10th next and is expected to last a further three days.