Bar worker who miscarried paid €25k for unfair dismissal
A Galway hospitality firm has been ordered to pay €25,000 to a former manager who was dismissed shortly after suffering a miscarriage. The Workplace Relations Commission ruled against the company's attempt to argue that maternity protection laws did not apply because the employee was no longer pregnant.
Why it matters
This case sets a significant legal precedent regarding the application of maternity protection laws for employees who have experienced pregnancy loss.
A Galway hospitality firm which dismissed a manager just 11 days after she suffered a miscarriage, before trying to claim that maternity protection law didn't apply since she wasn’t pregnant any longer, has been ordered to pay her €25,000.
Fadeside Ltd, a subsidiary of the Connacht Hospitality Group, has been ordered by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to pay the sum to a former manager at the Residence Hotel and 1520 Bar in Galway City for terminating her employment in October 2023 on the stated basis of underperformance.
The case was said to be the first time a worker sought to have the minimum service requirements of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 set aside under maternity protection law in the circumstances of a miscarriage.
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