Latest news with #GrahamBailey
Irish Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Bord Gáis engineer unfairly dismissed over side work allegations wins €5,000
An engineer has won over €5,000 for unfair dismissal after being sacked by Bord Gáis over claims he was offering to do cash work on the side for its customers. Kieran O'Leary, who was sacked from his €60,000-a-year job as a service engineer for Bord Gáis in January 2024, had told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) there was 'no evidence' he accepted cash from a woman who later complained about him. Bord Gáis human resources manager Graham Bailey had claimed there were 'multiple instances' of Mr O'Leary 'offering to carry out work in a personal capacity for vulnerable female customers', Mr Bailey said. The company's position was that Mr O'Leary had breached a competition clause in his contract of employment. READ MORE The WRC was told Bord Gáis had received complaints from three customers who had been visited by Mr O'Leary on dates in 2022 and 2023. Giving evidence, Mr O'Leary said that he was called out to a property in April 2022 where the lady of the house had asked about having showers and taps fitted. 'She asked if I did. I said I did, I came back out of work hours to give her a price for that, but the job never went ahead,' he said. He said the customer later complained to his line manager, who called him to a meeting and asked him to explain a 'printout'. 'I told him I'd offered to fit a shower and taps for this customer. He explained it wasn't something I was supposed to do. I thought my contract stated I wasn't to work in direct competition with Bord Gáis,' he said. 'At that point I'd been given the understanding of what the contract meant. That was the last time I ever offered my services,' he said. His position was that the complaint had been resolved informally by his employer. Mr O'Leary said that he was asked a year later to explain why a customer had 'alleged she had paid me an amount of money for a part I'd fitted'. 'When I went to this job, everything was done by the book ... everything in that house was charged for and fitted by Bord Gáis,' he said. He said that on a second visit to the property in February 2023, he realised the customer's boiler was missing a 'grommet'. 'That grommet renders the boiler dangerous. You wouldn't be able to leave the boiler on, because it wouldn't be sealed,' Mr O'Leary said. 'I was pretty sure I had one of them at home,' he said – adding that he went home, fetched it and installed it. He said this was to 'save' the customer the difficulty of having her boiler turned off for the two weeks he said it would take to order the part in. Mr O'Leary produced a small black item around the size of a wine bottle cork in a plastic package from his pocket and held it up for the hearing, and told the hearing it was an example of the part he fitted. 'That grommet would be somewhere between one pound and five pounds to order,' he said. Next, in March 2023, Mr O'Leary said a difficulty arose with another customer as there was a casing around her boiler. He said his employer had 'always instructed that we shouldn't remove a casing' and she replied that 'everyone else did'. 'We got over that. I probably was a bit rude,' he said. He said he noticed there was a difficulty with a circuit board on the customer's boiler of a type that was carried as stock in his van, which he brought in and fitted. Again, a complaint followed, he said. 'They stated that I firstly fitted a second-hand part, which was later disproved by the inspector; [then] that I'd offered to do it for cash. I'm not sure how I'd be able to do it any cheaper than Bord Gáis,' he said. He told the WRC that the boxes for parts kept as van stock 'always get damaged'. He said he opened the sealed bag inside the box in front of the customer. 'She alleged she gave me €150. There's absolutely no evidence to say that happened. There's nothing to show I've ever done anything than my job that I was supposed to do with Bord Gáis,' Mr O'Leary said. The complainant explained that the April 2022 matter was then 're-tabled' by the company during an investigation meeting in July 2023. He said he made it 'clear' this had already been 'dealt with' by his line manager but that his concerns were 'palmed off'. The tribunal heard the investigation was paused when Mr O'Leary went on sick leave. 'I'd had a nervous breakdown,' he said. He also took issue with the fact that a formal grievance he raised about the investigation process did not proceed when he was later certified fit to participate, but that the disciplinary process did go ahead. Adjudicator Dónal Moore wrote in his decision that customer complaints had to be 'treated with some caution in making a serious decision on a person's livelihood'. Mr Moore said there was 'an issue as to how much weight can be given to these', but concluded there was 'no logical reason' that customers would fabricate similar complaints and concluded there was a case to be answered. The adjudicator found Mr O'Leary's use of his own parts 'does not appear to be warranted regardless of its well-meaning or intention' and that the claimant bore some fault in this regard. However, Mr Moore said it was 'not appropriate' that the 2022 complaint – which he said 'never led anywhere' – was 'conflated' with the 2023 complaints. He upheld Mr O'Leary's complaint and awarded him compensation of €5,289.08 under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.
Cision Canada
04-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Dime Community Bank Selects Quantifind to Strengthen Sanctions Screening in Payments
PALO ALTO, Calif., June 4, 2025 /CNW/ -- Dime Community Bancshares, Inc., the holding company for Dime Community Bank, a New York State-chartered trust company with over $14 billion in assets and the number one deposit market share among community banks on Greater Long Island (1), has chosen Quantifind's AI-powered risk intelligence platform to enhance its sanctions screening for payments. Faced with increasing regulatory scrutiny and growing complexity in global transactions, Dime sought a more precise and scalable solution to strengthen its compliance program while maintaining efficient operations. After a competitive evaluation, Dime selected Quantifind for its advanced capabilities in risk detection and seamless integration into existing workflows. "Our partnership with Quantifind represents a significant advancement in our compliance capabilities," said Michael Fegan, CTO, Dime Community Bank. "Quantifind's AI-driven platform equips us to protect our customers and communities while maintaining the highest standards of regulatory compliance." "We're proud to partner with Dime Community Bank and extend our support to mid-market banks that are critical to the financial ecosystem," said Graham Bailey, Quantifind COO. "Quantifind's solutions are designed to empower banks of all sizes to tackle financial crime with unparalleled speed, accuracy, and scalability." Quantifind's commitment to supporting mid-market banks reflects a broader mission to deliver purpose-built AI solutions that help institutions of all sizes detect and mitigate financial crime risks. About Dime Community Bank Dime Community Bank, headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, has served its community since 1864. With over 60 locations across the New York metropolitan area, which includes the five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester County, Dime offers a comprehensive range of financial services for individuals and businesses. About Quantifind Quantifind is a leader in financial crime intelligence automation. Its Graphyte™ platform delivers real-time, accurate risk assessments by integrating internal data with unstructured public information, enabling organizations to uncover hidden threats and strengthen compliance with speed, accuracy, and scale. ¹ Aggregate deposit market share for Kings, Queens, Nassau & Suffolk counties for community banks with less than $20 billion in assets. Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Media Contact Annalisa Camarillo EVP of Marketing, Quantifind Email: [email protected] SOURCE Quantifind
