Courts / Galway / Report
Solicitor in maternity discrimination claim quizzed on dancing at wedding
Summary
In a claim under the Employment Equality Act 1998, solicitor Orla Howe alleges that her former firm, Healy Crowley Ahern, terminated her employment in a sham redundancy after she disclosed her pregnancy. Howe says the firm's principal solicitor, Colm Kelly, stopped assigning her new files and excluded her from meetings before giving her redundancy notice, and that the firm's financial difficulties were overstated. She testified that she had not been compelled to work from the office during her pregnancy and that she had concerns about pandemic safety. During cross‑examination, Howe admitted attending a 50‑person wedding in Galway on 20 August 2021, where she danced, but she said the venue observed Covid guidelines and she was not mingling. The firm maintains the redundancy was genuine, citing a drop in conveyancing work and profits. The adjudicating officer is considering a decision, which will be issued in writing before being made public.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Solicitor in maternity discrimination claim quizzed on dancing at wedding. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial
When:
- August 2021 Other
- 17 August 2021 Other
- 20 August Hearing Or Sentence
- 19 November Other
- March 2021 Other
- November 2021 Other
- 17 December Other
- 2023-05-04 Publication
Why: A solicitor who has accused her former firm of letting her go because she was about to take maternity leave has admitted she was dancing at a wedding days before she wrote she had "anxiety" about going into the office. CNI source report
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