Orla Howe wins €30,000 pregnancy dismissal claim

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

Orla Howe won €30,000 after Marie Flynn, a Workplace Relations Commission adjudication officer, upheld her discriminatory-dismissal complaint in a decision dated 21 June 2023, following a hearing on 3 May 2023. The WRC found that no genuine redundancy existed and ordered compensation under the Employment Equality Act 1998.

The WRC did not uphold the separate gender-discrimination complaint concerning the Pregnant Workers’ Directive, finding that the firm’s failure to conduct a health-and-safety audit had no material impact because Howe was not compelled to attend the office and could work from home. Her family-status complaint had been withdrawn at the hearing. The proceedings were reported on 6 July 2023.