BMW dealer in bullying claim settles out of court

A FORMER managing director of a BMW dealership who accused his employers of bullying him before he was fired has made a financial settlement out of court.

James Hennessy alleged that he was "bullied and harassed" when he worked at Maxwell Motors in Blackrock.

He had been an employee at the company for more than 30 years when an independent report recommended his dismissal in November last year.

HEARING

However, on the second day of a hearing before the Employment Appeals Tribunal, the two parties agreed to a settlement.

The exact terms of the settlement will remain confidential, but it was confirmed that the agreement was reached on "amicable" terms.

As part of the arrangement, Mr Hennessy is also to drop proceedings he had taken against the company in the High Court.

The settlement was reached after sales director Patrick Sweeney was being cross examined by Michael Howard, counsel for Mr Hennessy.

Earlier, under questioning from counsel for Maxwell Motors, Mr Sweeney had said he did not believe the former MD was being bullied at board meetings but rather was unable or unwilling to answer questions about his running of the company.

He said that he found Mr Hennessy's inability to answer certain questions as "cringe-making".

"I wouldn't refer to it as bullying at all. Perhaps it was different to the way things were asked under Charles Day Snr (the pervious managing director).

"Perhaps it was a more robust style," Mr Sweeney told the tribunal.

Mr Hennessy, who had worked with Maxwell Motors since 1974, had claimed he was unfairly dismissed from his position in November 2007.

It was claimed that the dismissal followed recommendations contained in an independent report into management practices at the company.

The company denied that any bullying or harassment had taken place.