The High Court has found that a restaurant worker was dismissed while pregnant after her employer issued her a P45 without explanation. The court held that the circumstances supported the conclusion that the dismissal was discriminatory and awarded her €66,502.28 in compensation.
The appeal was a full rehearing of a Circuit Court award under the Employment Equality Act. The issue before Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty was whether the worker had been dismissed. She had worked for Graham O’Sullivan Restaurants Limited since November 2017 and told the company she was pregnant in July 2018.
In September, after pregnancy-related illness, she met company director Geoff Barnes and supervisor Lavinia Lungu. The worker said Barnes suggested she use social welfare support and return to work when ready. She provided medical certificates for sick leave. On 18 November, she collected an envelope from the restaurant office and found a P45 inside. She had not requested it, and there was no explanation with the document.
The company argued that the P45 had been issued in error and that the worker should have contacted management to clarify her employment status. The judge found that the P45 was prepared, delivered and later sent to Revenue through multiple administrative steps. Payroll recorded her employment as ending on 13 September, eight days after she agreed to take sick leave. The judge also considered an online advertisement for a permanent, full-time general assistant at the same branch, which the worker saw the day after receiving the P45. The company did not satisfactorily explain the timing of the advertisement.
The court found the P45 was not issued in error and that its delivery amounted to a dismissal in the circumstances. Once the worker established the dismissal, the burden shifted to the company to justify dismissing her while pregnant. The company maintained that the P45 was an error and did not provide evidence to justify the dismissal. The judge said the worker was not required to seek clarification from the employer.
The award includes €41,502.28 for documented loss of earnings and maternity benefit, and a further €25,000 for the discriminatory act and its effects. The judge said the additional sum was intended to be proportionate and fair and to act as a deterrent. She also proposed an order for the worker’s costs. The parties were invited to contact the registrar by 22 July 2024 if they sought a different costs order or other consequential orders; the judgment does not record a final costs order.