M&S unfairly sacked worker who allowed discount card to be used 73 times over seven weeks

Seán McCárthaigh

An employment tribunal has found Marks & Spencer Ireland unfairly dismissed an employee who was fired after his personal staff discount card was used numerous times by his then partner as well as her relatives and friends.

The Workplace Relations Commission heard the discount card has been used on 73 occasions over a seven-week period including almost simultaneously at branches in both Ireland and the UK.

The WRC upheld a complaint taken by the worker Mark Brennan against the well-known retailer under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.

Brennan, who had worked for M&S for over 10½ years until his dismissal in February 2025, claimed the sanction of dismissal was disproportionate.

He told the WRC that he was completely unaware that his former partner was giving the discount permission to her family and other acquaintances but had immediately stopped it after the company’s internal monitoring system became aware of the abuse.

The WRC heard that he also volunteered to reimburse the company for the €464.39 loss it had incurred as a result of the abuse of the discount card.

Eoin Coates of Mandate trade union, who represented the complainant, said M&S’s staff discount policy contained anomalies as well as there being a lack of clarification over what constituted “abuse” of the card.

Coates argued there was no deliberate or careless misuse by Brennan as he was completely unaware of any abuse until it was brought to his attention by the company.

He claimed M&S had allowed the abuse to continue so that it could “build a case against him".

Coates pointed out that Brennan was completely cooperative and honest at all times and was a loyal employee who had often been commended for the quality of his work.

He claimed Brennan could only be disciplined for being careless with a tablet computer from which his former partner had copied the discount app.

'Nuclear option'

Coates said the “nuclear option” of dismissal was completely disproportionate when there was a range of serious but lesser sanctions available.

Representatives of M&S gave evidence that the discount card, which is operated via a mobile phone app, was used on 73 occasions over between October 31st, 2024 and December 17th, 2024.

The WRC heard that only one transaction could be linked to Brennan personally.

A senior store manager who upheld the decision to dismiss the complainant on an internal appeal, said she had given very detailed consideration to the case but had regrettably felt that the bond of trust had been irrevocably broken.

The witness said there could be no doubt that Brennan was completely familiar with the terms of the policy on use of the discount card.

She claimed the scheme, which is available to 70,000 employees, was a major benefit for staff and had to be vigorously safeguarded.

WRC adjudication officer, Michael McEntee, noted that M&S had excellent HR procedures operated by experienced HR staff.

McEntee said the question of zero tolerance of any form of abuse of the discount scheme was clearly highlighted in information packs and there was no doubt that Brennan was aware of the policy.

Evidence

He observed that M&S managers who gave evidence to the WRC clearly regarded working for the company as “almost an honour” and regarded any abuse of the staff discount scheme “in almost apocalyptic terms.”

McEntee also remarked that M&S’s disciplinary code was “a first-class product from a very reputable company".

However, he said it seemed excessive to classify the act of allowing a domestic partner the use of the staff discount scheme through carelessness as a dismissible offence.

Upholding the claim of unfair dismissal, McEntee said it was “an excessive penalty” as other very serious sanctions such as a final written warning were available that would have had a similar effect in safeguarding the company’s discount policy.

He directed M&S to pay the complainant compensation of €2,000 – just over one month’s pay – which the WRC said reflected how Brennan had contributed significantly to the dismissal by his carelessness.