William Gallagher
An Apple employee in Cork, Ireland, has been awarded $5,275 for being unfairly dismissed, after traces of explosives were found in his bag.
Apple has maintained a large operation in Cork, Ireland, for 40 years, and it includes technical support advisors. Now one of those, Stanislaw Ivanov, has been awarded damages by Ireland's Labor Court for unfair dismissal, which Apple has not contested.
According to The Irish Examiner, however, Ivanov wants to clear his name over an accusation that he had traces of Tetryl explosive on him.
On December 7, 2018, he refused Apple security permission to search his bag on entering a company Christmas party at a local football stadium. Then on December 13, 2018, swab tests of his workstation at Apple, and of the power switch on his computer, were positive for explosives.
Prior to the Labor Court, Ireland's Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) had ruled in favor of Ivanov. Its ruling said that Apple had no authority to search his bag, and so should have called the police.
The WRC also called it "incredible" that solely the workstation and computer had the traces of explosive substances, given how Ivanov could not have solely touched those.
Ivanov himself appealed against the WRC ruling, as he wanted to contest how he was being seen as "some type of criminal." He said he wants to clear his reputation, especially as his social circle "almost disappeared" following his dismissal from Apple.
Originally, Ivanov had wanted to be reinstated by Apple. He now agrees that cannot happen.
"Essentially the relationship and bond of trust is irrevocably broken," said Darragh Whooley, Apple's employee relations manager. Apple did not contest the ruling of unfair dismissal, and Whooley said the company was happy to pay the compensation.
Overall, the Labor Court sided with Ivanov, and as well as the unfair dismissal damages, ruled that there should be an entirely new hearing on the case. Deputy chair Tom Geraghty reportedly criticized both Ivanov and Apple for the lack of information in their submissions to the court.
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
Oliver Haslam
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
13 Comments
What a strange story. I wonder what explosive traces would be picked up by a swab test, and why they were even testing for that. Is it routine?
It's been common practice at least in the US (at least in metro NY and NJ,) to have to show the contents of your bag prior to entering an arena or stadium, given the number of ill-minded people out there (and pass through metal detectors, at least at Madison Square Garden and Prudential Center). This is general knowledge.
Why resist it? There is no harm to you, and in fact, the collective action is making a safer environment.
What kind of bag does an Irish guy take to a Christmas party? I've been to plenty of large American corporate Christmas parties and I don't recall a single instance of a guy bringing a bag of any kind. I am surprised the WRC would say Apple didn't have any authority to search the bag as noted above many stadiums require this and I would be surprised that the stadium wouldn't have similar rules when rented out for a private event.