Equality Officer Vivian Murtagh found that Iwona Morzywoleck was discriminated against on gender grounds when Redmond Next Door Off Licence Ltd. dismissed her shortly after she returned from maternity leave. The decision was dated 24 October 2012, and the officer ordered the company to pay her €6,000.
Morzywoleck said she was told there was no work for her after returning in May 2010. The company, which was in liquidation, did not attend the hearing. The officer found that it had hired a man to do Morzywoleck’s kitchen porter work while she was on leave and retained him after her return. She found Morzywoleck’s evidence credible and the discrimination claim established. The award was for distress and the effects of the discrimination, roughly equivalent to six months’ salary. The company went into liquidation on 4 October 2010, when all staff were let go.