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Tribunal Rules Oscar Mayer Firing Over Mock Irish Greeting Was Unfair

The judge cited a flawed investigation that ignored Karl Davies’s 27 years of clean service.

Overview

  • Karl Davies was awarded more than £16,000 after the Mold employment tribunal found his dismissal unfair.
  • On 13 August 2024 at Oscar Mayer’s Wrexham site, he repeatedly greeted manager Scott Millward with “top of the morning to ya” while listening to Irish music.
  • Judge Vincent Ryan described the conduct as reprehensible and mocking but found no purpose or evidence of racial harassment, noting it remained blameworthy given the hierarchy.
  • The tribunal identified procedural defects including use of an inappropriate investigator linked to an unresolved grievance, inconsistent witness accounts, and failure to weigh his clean record.
  • Oscar Mayer’s case relied on an assumption that he believed a visiting auditor looked “typically Irish,” yet the auditor is not known to be Irish and Davies did not know or see them.