WRC finds Coca-Cola discriminated against marketer returning from maternity leave

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

Coca-Cola HBC Ireland Ltd was found to have discriminated against Lisa Deveney on gender grounds after she was not returned to her former role following maternity leave. The Workplace Relations Commission awarded her €68,000 in compensation, just short of a year’s basic salary.

Adjudicator Patricia Owens found that Deveney’s new position was a demotion: it was operational rather than strategic and did not include budget management, although both roles had the same grade and pay. The adjudicator concluded that the employer had already decided she would move to the new role and had not intended to offer her options. A separate complaint under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act was not upheld.