EDA2219 - Labour Court DAVID ARANDA PETIT DELICE LIMITED (REPRESENTED BY MR. BRIAN SUGRUE B.L. INSTRUCTED BY CASHELL SOLICITORS) - AND - JESSICA PADAYACHEE (REPRESENTED BY MS. MARIA BROSNAN B.L. INSTRUCTED BY O’SULLIVAN,...
| Judgment Date | 01 August 2022 |
| Year | 2022 |
| Court | Labour Court (Ireland) |
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FULL RECOMMENDATION
SECTION 77 (12), EMPLOYMENT EQUALITY ACTS, 1998 TO 2015 PARTIES :
DAVID ARANDA PETIT DELICE LIMITED
(REPRESENTED BY MR. BRIAN SUGRUE B.L. INSTRUCTED BY CASHELL SOLICITORS) - AND - JESSICA PADAYACHEE (REPRESENTED BY MS. MARIA BROSNAN B.L. INSTRUCTED BY O’SULLIVAN, QUILTER AND CO., SOLICITORS) DIVISION :
SUBJECT :
1.
An appeal of an Adjudication Officer's Decision No(s)
ADJ-00023019, CA-00029648-001
This is an appeal under the Employment Equality Act, 1998-2015, ‘the Act’ Ms. Padayachee, ‘the Complainant’, was employed by David Aranda Petit Delice Ltd., ‘the Respondent’ from 1 March 2019 to 2 April 2019. In the course of March 2019, the Complainant discovered that she was pregnant. The Complainant is a South African national and needed the signature of her employer to complete the work permit process. The Complainant contends that this was withheld because she was pregnant. This is denied by the Respondent. The Complainant submitted complaints under the Act to the Workplace Relations Commission, ‘WRC’ alleging discrimination on grounds of race, gender and family status. The complaint on grounds of race was not upheld by an Adjudication Officer, ‘AO’, was not appealed and was not before the Court. The complaints on grounds of gender and family status were upheld by the AO, who awarded €33,600 to be paid to the Complainant in compensation. The Respondent appealed this Decision. Summary of Complainant’s arguments . The Complainant was moving from South Africa to Ireland and sought employment as a Pastry Chef. Following an interview and trial in December 2018, the Respondent confirmed that they would hire her. She was due to commence employment on 1 March 2019. In January 2019, the Complainant contacted Migrant.ie for assistance with her Work Permit application process. The Complainant was asked to commence work on 25 February 2019 and she felt under pressure to do so. She was paid in cash for work carried out in February. She advised Ms. Dany O’ Leary, mother of Mr David Aranda, that she did not have a PPS number. She continued to work in March. She was unable to work on 16 March 2019 as she hurt her back. She advised the Respondent but received no reply. In order for the Work Permit process to be completed, the Complainant arranged to meet with Ms. O’ Leary on Sunday, 24 March 2019. Ms. O’ Leary could not meet her but they communicated by whatsapp call. The Complainant advised that she needed her employer’s signature to finalise her application. She also advised that she was pregnant. Ms. O’ Leary told the Complainant that she knew she was pregnant already but that she was no longer sure if they wanted to go ahead with the Complainant’s work permit application. She said that she would let her know after she spoke to Mr. Aranda. The Complainant became stressed and the following day she messaged Mr. Aranda asking to speak to him and to say that she was not feeling well. Mr. Aranda read the message but did not reply. On that day, the Complainant advised Migrant.ie of this development. The Complainant returned to work on 26 March 2019. On that date, Ms. O’ Leary messaged her seeking a PPS number. The Complainant replied to say that she did not have a PPS number, that she could only get one when she had a Work Permit and that she sought confirmation of the Respondent’s continued support with this. Ms. O’ Leary texted ‘Yes’ in reply and ‘Get married’, presumably as a joke. Ms. O’ Leary sought an older PPS number. The Complainant indicated that she did not have one and that it took five days after a Work Permit application was filed. On 29 March 2019, the Complainant texted Mr. Aranda and informed him... |
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