Solicitor Ammi Burke has only herself to blame for the damage to her reputation since her dismissal from one of Ireland’s leading law firms, the Labour Court has been told.
Burke from Castlebar, Co Mayo, was dismissed by Arthur Cox Solicitors of Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, in November 2019 and is now on her third challenge to that dismissal.
She had previously taken cases against her dismissal at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and there were two judicial reviews arising out of those.
She has now begun the case against her dismissal to the Labour Court, which is the appeal court for the WRC.
Peter Ward SC, on behalf of Arthur Cox Solicitors, said Burke had attempted to tie up her former employee in litigation for many years and had disrupted several hearings.
She had been given a “generous” ex gratia payment of €70,000, a year’s salary, when she was dismissed.
Senior partners in Arthur Cox had attempted to resolve the issue by helping her get a new position in a different firm following her dismissal.
Had she taken that that route, there would have been no damage to her professional reputation. Instead, she took a course that “could not have been more damaging to herself”.
“The course she and her family took couldn’t have brought more publicity on herself,” Ward said.
The damage to Burke’s reputation was entirely her own fault and not that of Arthur Cox, he suggested.
Her family had picketed outside Arthur Cox offices, engaged in protracted litigation and had made “extremely false and damaging” allegations against the firm.
He said her behaviour in court had been “unprecedented” and “outrageous”. He cited a judgment by the Court of Appeal in 2024 by Judge Seamus Noonan who described her behaviour at the High Court in the Court of Appeal as “utterly appalling and egregious”.
Ward said Burke’s disruptive behaviour in court was an “affront to the rule of law”. It would be “absurd” and “entirely unreasonable” for Arthur Cox Solicitors to take her back.
A simple Google search for Ammi Burke and Arthur Cox Solictors showed the evidence of her and family’s attempt to undermine the credibility of the firm.
Ward told the Labour Court that Burke’s dismissal was down to her “poor judgement, interpersonal interactions and her attitudes towards her colleagues”.
She had exhibited behaviour “entirely below the standard of a team-playing colleague”.
She exhibited a “superiority complex” and was condescending towards colleagues.
Burke began as a trainee solicitor with the firm in May 2016 and became a solicitor with the banking practice group in November 2018 on a salary of €70,000 per year.
Burke told the court that she was dismissed without warning and without cause on November 12th, 2019.
Before that she claimed to have had an “unblemished” record and was noted for her work ethic and her status as a team player.
She recalled that when she was told she was being dismissed, her HR director told her that it was a no fault dismissal and she had done nothing wrong.
Her dismissal had been “procedurally unfair” and in complete contravention of the employment practices of Arthur Cox. There was a “complete absence” of documentary evidence backing up her dismissal, she told the Labour Court.
Her dismissal had a “devastating” impact on her ability to find alternative employment as a solicitor.
In such circumstances, the only just remedy would be her reinstatement. The hearing continues.