Energie Fitness ordered to pay €7,612 to instructor after WRC finds sexual harassment

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ordered Belfort Capital Ltd, trading as Energie Fitness, to pay fitness instructor Karen McVeeney €7,612 in total. The award includes €5,500 for sexual harassment and gender discrimination, and €2,112 for providing her written employment terms late.

The WRC found that manager Chris O’Donoghue’s sexual remarks violated McVeeney’s dignity and created a humiliating and offensive workplace environment. It also found that her claims over late written employment terms succeeded, while her unfair dismissal and protected disclosure claims failed because she had not formally notified the employer.