The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Milka Alves Da Rocha €10,500 after finding her dismissal by O'Meara Aspect Design Limited unfair. The decision, dated 21 November 2023, also awarded her €731 for unpaid notice and €1,000 for an unlawful deduction from her final pay.
Da Rocha said she had been given little detail about the allegations against her and too little time to prepare for a disciplinary hearing. The adjudicator found serious procedural unfairness, including that the employer did not put specific evidence of wrongdoing to her. The respondent did not attend the WRC hearing.
The deduction related to sponsorship and visa application payments, and the adjudicator found there was no contractual or other basis for it. An equality complaint concerning a phone-call incident was not well founded; it had been filed under the Equal Status Act in error, and the adjudicator found no prima facie breach under the Employment Equality Act.