AN IRISH shop owner who took a pregnant employee to task over her appearance at work has been ordered to pay her €18,000 in compensation.
Karoloina Poslajko was employed at Clelands Supermarkets Ltd, which is based in Co. Kildare, when she fell pregnant with her second child in August 2014.
Ms Poslajko claimed that after informing her supervisor at Clelands of her pregnancy the owner of the business began to treat her differently, the Irish Independent reports.
The employee said she was called to the owner's office on various occasions where she was reprimanded for allegedly making mistakes, told she would have to work harder and "look better and appear happy" at work.
She also had her weekly hours cut from 39 to 24 by Clelands, as the owner claimed she wasn't working hard enough.
When Ms Poslajko went on maternity leave in March 2015 she contacted her solicitors about her treatment, claiming she was being discriminated against.
When she returned to work in October 2015, she was told her hours were being reduced further because the business was not performing.
Ms Poslajko told the court the remaining hours were not enough to support her family, so she resigned from her position with the firm in March 2016.
The case came before the Labour Court this week, after Clelands appealed a ruling by an equality officer who found that Ms Poslajko was discriminated against.
Upholding the ruling by the equality officer, the court ordered Clelands to pay Ms Poslajko €12,000 for gender discrimination, and an additional €6,000 for victimisation.
