The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Orla O’Keefe €85,000 after finding Realmside Ltd, Hyatt Centric discriminatorily dismissed her while she was pregnant. The decision was dated 18 February 2022.
O’Keefe was the hotel’s Director of Sales. After she told managers she was pregnant in May 2020, she was told her role was being made redundant. The WRC found she was the only employee made redundant and was not given information about her selection or the chance to discuss alternatives. The respondent did not attend the hearing or provide evidence to rebut the inference of discrimination.
The award reflected her present and future earnings loss, loss of statutory maternity protection and the effects of her dismissal. A separate complaint about written notice of changes to her duties was not well founded; the officer found the changes were attributable to adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic.