Background:

The Complainant commenced employment as Operations Manager in October 2021. The Complainant informed the Respondent that she was pregnant on 27th December 2021. She sought a risk assessment due to her concerns about a recent COVID-19 outbreak within the workplace. During December 2021 and January 2022, discussions took place with her line manager on facilitating home working with revised duties. From 19th January 2022, formal arrangements were agreed by parties on remote working with revised duties and a pay reduction. The Complainant suffered a miscarriage at the beginning of February 2022. At the end of February 2022, the Complainant received a letter to attend a disciplinary meeting. Her employment was terminated on 2nd March 2022 based on under-performance in the role.

The Complainant pursued the complaint under the Employment Equality Acts.

The Complainant submitted that from the commencement of her employment there were no significant issues with her performance. When she returned, her line manager had left the employment and she was liaising with a new manager who was a consultant working 3 days a week. The Complainant submitted that a meeting which took place with her in December was only 5-10 minutes and was not viewed by her as a performance review meeting, particularly as she received no minutes of the meeting at that time.

The Respondent gave evidence that it was not their intention to dismiss the Complainant as it was difficult to find staff at that time. The Respondent stated that the Complainant’s aggressive behaviour at the meeting contributed to the decision to dismiss. The Respondent further outlined that they were aware that the Complainant had sought legal advice in or around the time of dismissal.

The Adjudication Officer did not find the Respondent’s evidence convincing in demonstrating that there were legitimate performance issues and that valid reasons existed for dismissal.  Based on the evidence, the Adjudication Officer established an inference of discriminatory treatment, and that the dismissal was related in some way to the Complainant’s gender and pregnancy.

Outcome:

The Adjudication Officer found that the complaint of discriminatory dismissal on gender grounds was well founded and ordered the Respondent to pay the Complainant the sum of €17,500 in compensation.

Practical Guidance for Employers:

This case informs us that it is well established through European and Irish case law that women are to be afforded special protection from adverse treatment, and from dismissal on account of their condition, from the commencement of their pregnancy until the end of their maternity leave. It is vital that an employer maintains a record of documentary evidence to show that an employee is underperforming or that their job is being scrutinised. The Adjudication officer noted that there were no contemporaneous notes or letters flagging these events as ‘underperformance’ in line with the company’s own policy.  Although an inference of discriminatory treatment can be rebutted by the employer, in this case the Adjudication Officer did not find sufficient, substantial and/or cogent reasons for the dismissal.

https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2023/january/adj-00038952.html