A groundskeeper who was nearing retirement when he said his bosses began"spying" on him, told him he was"slowing down" and replaced his broken electric litter cart with a manual version that he had to push 15km a day has been awarded €15,000 for ageist discrimination.
Mr Prendergast had spent more than 15 years working at the site when he took medical leave for stress in October 2022 - stress evidenced with medical notes and which he maintained was brought on by a sense that his manager was"spying" on him, the tribunal was told. Mr Prendergast said that the electric cart he had been using to pick up litter and leaves broke down in June 2022 and that it was replaced by a manual hand-cart which he had to push some 15km a day on his rounds.
In her decision on the case, adjudicator Catherine Byrne said she accepted the evidence of the operations manager that it was"not economic" to send the electric cart for repairs in Germany but said she had come to the view that there"must be" alternative options available on the market.