Ewelina Gacek, who was employed by the €uro 50 store in Dublin's Ilac Centre, was at the centre of a case described as the 'worst ever seen' by the inspecting equality officer.
In addition to being denied leave for routine medical check-ups, Ms. Gacek was also encourage to work unpaid extra hours after midnight.
Acknowledging the legal repercussions of their demands, store owners insisted Ms. Gacek clock out at midnight, but continue to work until the early hours “in case a labour inspector was snooping around their records."
Having been promoted to trainee manager, the equality officer quickly established that Ms. Gacek had in fact been performing the role of overall store manager, but without receiving the required pay rise.
It was also established that Ms. Gacek was often denied toilet breaks and worked 11-hours stretches without a break.
Justifying their demands, the store's administration officer emailed Ms. Gacek, saying: "I can understand that you are pregnant but I can still show you time sheets of other managers that were pregnant and still were doing 60-80 hours a week and worked till the last day." (sic)
The email, which was subsequently handed over to the equality officer, also stated: "Only last year two managers nearly got their baby in the store." (sic)
Having been suspended on full pay in February 2013 pending an internal investigation into a data breach, Ms Gacek eventually resigned from her role.
It was established that Ms. Gacek was harassed on the grounds of race, discriminated against on grounds of gender and was victimised by her employers.
Considering these factors, Ms. Gacek was awarded €33,000 (18 months’ salary) along with a further €22,000 (a year’s salary) for “distress caused by victimisationary dismissal.”
