Pregnant bar worker faced with unproven sexual misconduct allegation against male colleague after dismissal wins €18k discrimination claim

A pregnant bar supervisor in Cavan has been awarded €18,000 by the Workplace Relations Commission after successfully claiming discrimination following her dismissal. The worker was let go by Brandon Taverns Ltd, operator of the Imperial nightclub in Cavan Town, in November 2023, just five days after informing her line manager of her pregnancy. The company later cited unproven allegations of sexual misconduct by a male colleague as justification for the termination, allegations that had never been raised during the worker's employment. The WRC adjudicator found the allegations constituted an attempt to retrospectively justify the dismissal and determined the worker had been discriminated against on grounds of pregnancy in breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998. The adjudicator also found the employer had breached statutory obligations regarding provision of written employment terms. Brandon Taverns Ltd was ordered to pay €17,500 compensation for the equality breach and a further €500 for the statutory breach.