The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found a sexual-harassment complaint against Neville Hotels well founded and directed the hotel to pay Vanessa Corral Fernandez €2,000 compensation. The decision, dated 29 August 2023, also ordered the hotel to create a sexual-harassment policy for spa employees and provide updated training to them and management within six months.
Fernandez worked at the hotel from June until her dismissal in December 2021. She said she had been dismissed because of discrimination and after raising workplace concerns, including an incident involving a female client. The hotel said it dismissed her during probation after complaints from colleagues and clients, and denied discrimination.
The officer found that the client’s conduct constituted sexual harassment and that the hotel had not shown it took reasonable steps to prevent it. The spa’s generic policy did not address the risks of working with clients, and the officer found the line manager’s response showed inadequate training or leadership on the ground.
The officer rejected Fernandez’s separate discriminatory-dismissal complaint, finding that her probationary dismissal arose from differing views about the role and was not connected to a discrimination ground.