Team leader who was made redundant at Irish branch of TikTok loses unfair dismissal claim – The Irish Times

One of 24 “team leads” made redundant by the Irish arm of social media giant TikTok last year has lost his case for unfair dismissal.

This follows Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator Monica Brennan not upholding Mohur Saleh’s claim for unfair dismissal in April 2024 against TikTok Technology Ltd.

Ms Brennan dismissed Mr Saleh’s case after finding that he was selected for redundancy by TikTok Technology Ltd “after an impartial selection process” and that the reasons for selection were not personal.

Mr Saleh commenced working for TikTok Technology in July 2020 and was made redundant in April 2024 following a global restructuring of TikTok’s operations.

The reduction in numbers impacted 1,925 employees globally and 289 employees in Ireland.

TikTok Technology told the WRC hearing that the selection criteria for redundancy was made up of performance ratings, leadership principles, Juren (ranking) test results and disciplinary record.

The firm stated that if an employee achieved a score above 33 when the criteria was calculated, then they were not at risk of redundancy.

The company stated that 63 team leads were in the selection pool and, of those, 24 were made redundant and all 24, including Mr Saleh, scored under 33 in the combined selection criteria.

At hearing, Mr Saleh raised various issues relating to the scores that he achieved in his performance reviews and a policy knowledge test.

Mr Saleh claimed that his performance review scores from the 2023 midyear and annual cycles were unfair.

Ms Brennan stated that while she understand Mr Saleh’s perspective that a variety of issues meant that he did not score as highly as he wished in the selection criteria, “that criteria was impersonally applied to all employees and I therefore do not see any grounds upon which to find that the complainant’s selection was in any way an individual selection of him, personally, for redundancy”.

Ms Brennan found that TikTok Technology’s “selection for redundancy was not unfair as it was based on impartial and impersonal criteria”.