Director lost her job after third pregnancy

A pregnant woman was effectively sacked while on maternity leave by one of the country’s major hotel groups, having previously been warned that one of her bosses was close to former taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Julie O’Brien, who had worked as a sales and marketing director at the O’Callaghan Hotel group, was awarded €315,000 after the Equality Tribunal found she had been victimised, harassed, and fired due to discrimination.

The details of the case were published yesterday, with the tribunal concluding that the hotel group had “unilaterally terminated the complainant’s contract of employment while she was on maternity leave” expecting her third child.