Aldi may yet appeal a case that saw a former worker who was convicted over a sexual assault conviction awarded €5,000 for unfair dismissal by the Workplace Relations Commission, according to a leading barrister.
Muhammad Kashif was dismissed by the German supermarket group after it learned that he had been convicted of sexually assaulting a co-worker in another job.
Barrister and Sunday Times columnist Brenda Power told Newstalk Breakfast the victim has waived her right to anonymity so he can be named.
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"He'd apparently two jobs at the same time - he was working for Aldi while he was also working for a fast-food restaurant," she said.
"It was in the fast-food restaurant that this happened.
"The victim - her name is Donna - she identified herself voluntarily because she wanted him also to be identified.
"He pleaded to the offences on the morning of the hearing".
'Suspension with pay'
Ms Power said Mr Kashif was fired by Aldi which is where the WRC stepped in.
"His contract with Aldi had a clause which said that an employee convicted of anything other than a minor motoring offence would be dismissed," she said.
"He'd been convicted of a sexual assault... his higher management found out about this conviction through the newspapers.
"They put him on suspension with pay, conducted an investigation [with] disciplinary proceedings and they sacked him".
Ms Power said Mr Kashif appealed this decision.
"He appealed it within Aldi first and the dismissal was upheld," she said.
"Then he appealed it to the Workplace Relations Commission and they awarded him €5,000 for unfair dismissal."
In its ruling, the WRC said "no regard" was taken for his "unblemished record" of eight weeks with Aldi and also suggested there was a "rush to dismissal".
'No option but to let him go'
Ms Power said she can't see how Aldi could have acted differently.
"If you know that there is a danger - and this man clearly posed a danger to women - in your workplace if you don't remove it... Aldi would have been absolutely liable if anything had happened to their staff knowing what they knew about this man," she said.
"I would have thought they had no option but to let him go".
Ms Power said the WRC was critical of Aldi's approach.
"They said the fact that he had not assaulted anyone during his eight weeks at Aldi shows that, kind of, the danger had passed," she said.
"I think most men would be able to go eight weeks, or even eight years, without assaulting anybody and not expect a pat on the back.
"The Workplace Relations Commission found that he was 50% responsible for his own sacking by having previously assulted a female employee".
Ms Power added that she hopes Aldi "would appeal this".
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