Massage parlour worker awarded €102,550 for workplace breaches

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

The WRC awarded an unnamed massage parlour worker €102,550 for whistleblower penalisation and other workplace breaches. The proceedings were reported on 17 November 2023. The package included €91,000 for penalisation, the maximum award under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, alongside compensation for unfair dismissal and other employment rights breaches.

Adjudicator Michael MacNamee found a direct link between the worker’s refusal to provide sexual services and acts of penalisation. He said the male manager’s continued demands amounted to further penalisation through coercion, intimidation, harassment or unfair treatment. He clarified that the decision did not find that wrongdoing had actually been committed.

The worker told the WRC that managers encouraged her to provide sexual services to clients and that the male manager pressured her to provide services to him. The WRC also awarded €7,000 for loss of earnings following her dismissal, €1,400 for failure to provide a written contract, €700 for dismissal without notice and €2,450 for unpaid annual leave.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.