A former Iceland employee who was left unable to claim maternity benefit because of a six-month delay in providing her with necessary forms after being laid off while seven months pregnant has won €51,000 for gender discrimination.
Rachel Smyth told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that her time as a new mother had been "ruined" by the stress of the situation.
The tribunal heard that Ms Smyth had been expecting to transfer to a new work site at the time the supermarket group was bought out - but was then laid off without notice.
In a decision today the employment tribunal ruled Metron Stores Ltd, trading as Iceland (in liquidation) to be in breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998 on foot of a complaint by Ms Smyth.
The award to Ms Smyth, who was employed as a junior buyer earning €34,000 a year, represents 18 months salary - a sanction the tribunal said was intended to act as a "deterrent".
Ms Smyth said that in early February 2023, she learned that Iceland's Irish operation was being sold by its British parent company, Iceland Foods Ltd, to Project Point Technologies, a firm owned by the businessman Naeem Maniar. She said Ms A, a human resources manager working at Project Point Technologies, visited the office and told her she would be relocating to Homesavers in Tallaght, Dublin 24.
Ms Smyth added that she discussed her pregnancy and upcoming maternity leave with Ms A on this occasion.
However, the complainant said that when she went in to work on Friday 17 February last year, the day after the sale, "no-one came in to provide an update".
Staff were called in one by one to an office the following Monday to be told they were being laid off without pay until further notice, she added. Ms Smyth said she went into the meeting with maternity benefit forms and asked another Project Point Technologies HR officer, Mr B, to sign them. Mr B said he would "get back to her" about signing, she said.
After asking Mr B by email why the company was advertising a junior buyer job in Tallaght, Ms Smyth said she met with Ms A - taking the view that the HR manager was suggesting to her that "her role was no longer there".
After the layoff period was extended in March 2023, Ms Smyth said she made "numerous attempts" to contact Mr B, Ms A and even the new owner, Mr Maniar, asking them to complete her maternity benefit forms, but got "no response".
Ms Smyth’s union rep, David Cotter of the Independent Workers’ Union, submitted that following its acquisition by Project Point, Iceland Stores Ireland Ltd, the firm employing Ms Smyth, registered a change of name to Metron Stores Ltd, which was reflected in a payslip she received in March 2023.
Her evidence was that after she gave birth in May 2023, she was unable to claim statutory maternity benefit because the company "would not complete" the forms. As she was only receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance, she was at a loss of €42 a week, she said.
Ms Smyth said that it was only on 28 August 2023, following the appointment of an examiner to the company, that she received a letter confirming her employment status and her eligibility for maternity leave going back to May that year.
The last Iceland stores operated by Metron closed in September 2023, when the company went into liquidation.
Her evidence was that she had a gross loss of earnings of €21,589 between March and June 2024. It was a "very stressful period" for her, and her time as a new mother had been "ruined", she said.
Ms Smyth added that the situation had affected her family financially and caused stress she believed had led to medical problems for her.
The Iceland liquidator, JW Accountants, did not attend the full hearing of Ms Smyth’s case in June this year, telling the tribunal by correspondence that it could not assist as the matters complained of predated its appointment.
WRC adjudicator Elizabeth Spelman wrote that Ms Smyth provided "clear and detailed information concerning the events" in her uncontested evidence, as well as documents in corroboration.
"Instead of relocating the complainant as discussed, the respondent laid her off without notice, while she was seven months pregnant," Ms Spelman wrote, noting that the company then advertised for a junior buyer job and left Ms Smyth "completely uninformed" about her position.
Metron then "delayed in providing the complainant with the necessary maternity benefit documentation until approximately three months after the birth of her baby and this delay caused her considerable stress", Ms Spelman added.
She upheld Ms Smyth’s complaint of gender discrimination and awarded her €51,000 in compensation.
In common with around 35 other ex-staff represented by the Independent Workers’ Union, separate complaints by Ms Smyth seeking unpaid wages and redundancy were resolved by agreement before Christmas 2023.
At a hearing in December, the WRC was told the liquidator had facilitated applications to the Employer’s Insolvency Fund on her behalf and that the claims were being withdrawn.
