A graphic designer who endured what he described as a toxic workplace under a volatile magazine publisher for more than a decade has been awarded €19,000 (approximately $23,000) for constructive dismissal. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled in favor of Austin Lambe against Irish Vintage Scene Ltd, trading as Print More, in a decision issued on Friday after upholding his complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.
The company, which the tribunal noted is now in liquidation, operated a print shop in Oranmore, County Galway, and published car magazines including Irish Vintage Scene and Retro Classics. Lambe worked for 12½ years in the company's office alongside owner Tom Heavey, earning an annual salary of €38,800, until he finally walked away following a heated argument with his boss on September 12, 2024.
During testimony at a July hearing, Lambe painted a picture of a deeply troubled workplace environment. "A lot of people came and went during those years. They'd usually last two years and leave. There was a very toxic work environment. My employer was a very hard person to work for," he told the tribunal. He described how toward the end of his employment, Heavey wouldn't even acknowledge his presence, saying "It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" when characterizing his boss's office behavior.
The breaking point came during a lunchtime argument on September 12, 2024, over a broken printing machine. Lambe recounted that Heavey made a comment suggesting "everything I do has to be checked." Overwhelmed by stress and disappointment after years of mistreatment, Lambe responded: "Look, I'm leaving... I can't sit here. When I come back tomorrow, I'm handing in my notice." However, after seeing his doctor the following day, Friday the 13th, and being advised to take a break from the office, Lambe texted his employer that evening to retract his resignation notice.
The situation quickly deteriorated through a series of text messages that Lambe presented to adjudicator Úna Glazier-Farmer. When Lambe attempted to withdraw his resignation, Heavey replied: "Nope, you've handed in your notice, and I've accepted it." After Lambe explained he had made the remark "in the heat of the moment," Heavey's final response was decisive: "Your job is no longer there."
Lambe's testimony revealed the extent of workplace abuse he endured over more than a decade. "Everything I did was second-guessed and overanalyzed. I was graphic designer, receptionist, printer, answering phones in the shop, 20 things at a time. Over the years, my job got more and more and more detailed. He micromanaged everything," he explained. The pressure was relentless, with Lambe expected to remember every customer interaction and inquiry in perfect detail. "If a customer rang in two weeks earlier, I had to remember every detail. It wasn't possible for me to do everything he wanted me to do."
The work environment was suffocating in other ways as well. Lambe described how Heavey had "a very big problem with staff chit-chatting" and that "there were no personal conversations at the office when the boss was in." Any failure to meet Heavey's impossible standards resulted in verbal abuse, with the boss becoming "very agitated, very annoyed" and demanding to know why Lambe couldn't remember every detail of dozens of simultaneous projects.
When asked why he remained in such a toxic environment for so long, Lambe's answer reflected economic reality: "I've a mortgage and bills. Beggars can't be choosers. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know. There aren't jobs for graphic designers in Galway, it's a very small niche." He added, "I've a thick skin. I put up with it," explaining that he never attempted to file a formal grievance because he "didn't want to make a toxic environment even more toxic."
Adjudicator Glazier-Farmer noted that the respondent company chose not to attend the hearing to defend against the allegations. In her written decision, she stated: "I accept the complainant's account of Mr. Heavey's consistent oppressive and demeaning conduct. The actions and words of the respondent over a prolonged period of time amount to unreasonable conduct." She awarded Lambe €19,055.40 in compensation, equivalent to nearly six months' wages.
The compensation amount was specifically based on Glazier-Farmer's finding that Lambe's health was directly affected by his employer's workplace conduct. The adjudicator determined that the sustained pattern of abuse and unreasonable treatment constituted constructive dismissal under Irish employment law.
In a final insight into the contentious relationship, Lambe predicted his former employer's response to the ruling. "If I was a betting man, I would have bet he would put the company into liquidation rather than pay me. He would begrudge me it," he said. Indeed, the tribunal noted that Irish Vintage Scene Ltd is now in liquidation, though it remains unclear whether this occurred before or after the WRC decision.
