The High Court in Dublin has awarded journalist Mairead Carey €52,000 (£36,700) in her action against Independent Newspapers for breach of contract.
The judge accepted that Carey had been induced by the then Evening Herald editor Paul Drury to join the tabloid as political correspondent. In the course of negotiations which were not fully disclosed to senior management it had been proposed that Carey, for childminding purposes, would work from home for the ?rst edition of the paper when contracted by Drury.
It was not, however, disclosed to Carey that management had serious reservations about such an arrangement before she began work. The judge said he accepted Carey’s assurances that without such an arrangement she would not have accepted a job offer.
In his judgment he found no blame attached to Carey who, he said, had simply trusted Drury and relied on what he had told her. He accused Drury of making what he called “a negligent representation” to the journalist he was about to employ by positively af?rming an arrangement for her to work from home in her special circumstances.
On the basis of what happened in the case – her employment was terminated – the judge added that he considered no aspersion had been cast on Carey’s capacity or integrity.
By Des Cryan in Dublin
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