In a ruling published last week, the Employment Appeals Tribunal said that though there were "substantial grounds" justifying the dismissal of Marion Hutchinson of Douglas Road in Cork, the meeting in which Hutchinson was sacked was "procedurally flawed".

Jennifer McIntosh said she had taken over O'Herlihy solicitors following the death of her husband and had employed Hutchinson in 2001. By late 2004, McIntosh said staff were complaining about Hutchinson's behaviour. One secretary complained that Hutchinson had called her names "such as stupid" and had "reduced her to tears."

McIntosh said that the company had received complaints from the Law Society concerning Hutchinson's treatment of a client and claimed that she had also "exposed the company to a possible law suit."

McIntosh added that Hutchinson had told a client to communicate to her at her home address and that she had falsified her (McIntosh's) signature while she herself was on holiday.

McIntosh also said that the company had difficulty recovering files that Hutchinson had kept in her home and that "files were missing." Following a meeting between McIntosh, Hutchinson and another solicitor, Hutchinson was dismissed in November, 2005.

Hutchinson explained to the Tribunal that she had taken the files to schedule them before she went on holidays and that they were files that were brought from her previous solicitor's office.

But the Tribunal was of the "unanimous opinion" that after the working relationship broke down Hutchinson "decided to set up practice on her own account."