Woman fired because she was pregnant awarded €14k

A PIZZERIA owner has been ordered to pay €14,470 to a woman who was fired because she was pregnant.

A ruling from the Employment Appeals Tribunal said Agata Ciebien of Fern Court, Stepaside Park, Dublin 8, was working as a cleaner for Two for One Pizza Ltd in Greystones when she told her boss that she was pregnant in June 2007, just weeks into her pregnancy.

The company, managed by Greg O’Kane and trading as the Soul Kitchen, is based in Tesco Shopping Centre and hired Ms Ciebien in April 2007.

The tribunal heard that after she became pregnant her position was undermined. Ms Ciebien’s legal team said she felt she was picked on and this came to a head later on in the summer.

“On August 17, 2007, the manager approached the claimant complaining about the cleanliness of the premises and told her that since her pregnancy she had become lazy in her work.

“He also accused her of picking her nose without any attempt to establish whether that was true. An argument ensued between the claimant and the manger in which the manager told her to get the f**k out,” the tribunal’s report said.

She was sent her P45 the following month but because she was only with the company for a short period of time she was not entitled to maternity benefit after she gave birth in March.

Her manager did not turn up for the tribunal hearing in April and did not have representation to argue on his behalf.

Efforts were made to contact Mr O’Kane yesterday but he had not commented at the time of going to press.

At the tribunal hearing, another former employee said they were working with Ms Ciebien on the day she had the argument with her boss. This woman said she heard comments being made about Ms Ciebien’s pregnancy.

In Mr O’Kane’s absence, chairwoman of the tribunal Niamh O’Carroll-Kelly ruled the woman lost her job because she was pregnant.

“Having heard the uncontradicated evidence and submissions of this case the tribunal is satisfied that the claimant’s dismissal by the respondent was due to her pregnancy. The dismissal is therefore unfair,” her ruling said.

Ms O’Carroll-Kelly awarded Ms Ciebien €14,470 in compensation.