A café manager whose former employer belittled her accent by referring to her as "Sofía Vergara" has won €3,500 in compensation for discriminatory harassment.
It was one of two employment rights breaches upheld against Aspenvale Ltd, operator of The Cake Café on Pleasants Place, Dublin 8, on foot of complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) by its former manager, Vedrana Miskic.
The complainant told the WRC she started the job just after a new owner, Giulio Takacs, took over the business around April 2025.
She said Mr Takacs had the view that the existing staff were not "suitable", but she disagreed, arguing the new owner was "making life uncomfortable" as they felt they were "being monitored".
Ms Mikic said that on 28 April that year, three days after she started, a female member of staff quit, referring to alleged "racist and sexist remarks made by Mr Takacs" and taking issue with a change in payroll dates.
In addition, Ms Mikic said Mr Takacs made fun of her accent by referring to her as Sofía Vergara, in reference to Colombian-born actress.
Mr Takacs denied making racist remarks or discriminatory comments concerning members of the LGBT community or black people, adjudication officer Catherine Byrne recorded in her decision.
Further difficulty arose when the worker who quit at the end of April came to the premises on 17 May 2025 in an "upset" state asking about her wages.
Ms Mikic said Mr Takacs accused her of failing to tell the former employee her wages were not due to be paid until the end of May, on the basis the café had switched to a "monthly" payroll schedule.
The complainant herself said she was being paid her wages fortnightly at the time and had been unable to explain to the former employee "why she wasn't paid at the same time as everyone else".
Mr Takacs said Ms Mikic raised her voice to him on 17 May and told him: "If you want me to leave, I'll leave." She called in sick the following day, he said.
Mr Takacs said he met Ms Mikic again on 21 May 2025, when he said Ms Mikic said she would take a case to the WRC.
He argued Ms Mikic resigned verbally on 17 May, but if she hadn't, trust had broken down by then and he was entitled to dismiss her on the 21.
Ms Mikic maintained she had been sacked for opposing discrimination.
In a decision published today, Ms Byrne wrote: "I found the complainant to be a credible witness, and I regret to say that I found that Mr Takacs was less so."
"The complainant worked hard and did her absolute best to manage the owner’s chaotic approach to the business and his cavalier attitude," Ms Byrne added.
Ms Byrne wrote that Mr Takacs' "use of AI" in the papers he had filed with the WRC "leads me to suspect that the complainant was correct when she said that he manipulated WhatsApp messages and correspondence to delete comments that he didn't like".
She found that Ms Mikic was dismissed on 21 May, noting that Mr Takacs had issued a termination letter giving one month's notice from that date.
There was no evidence Mr Takacs "made remarks about not hiring black people", but he "did not deny" referring to Ms Mikic as Sofía Vergara.
She concluded that Mr Takacs' comments amounted to "belittling of the complainant’s accent" by comparing her to Ms Vergara.
"It is my view that the complainant has established that, on the basic facts, her accent was ridiculed and that, on this basis, she was harassed," Ms Byrne wrote.
The harassment was in breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998, Ms Byrne found, awarding Ms Mikic four weeks’ wages, €3,762, in compensation.
While the dismissal of Ms Mikic was "unreasonable and unfair", there was not sufficient evidence to make a finding that it was for opposing discrimination, Ms Byrne found, rejecting that aspect of Ms Mikic’s case.
Ms Byrne also awarded a further four weeks' pay after ruling Aspenvale Ltd had breached the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 by failing to give Ms Mizkic a written statement of her job conditions within five days of starting.
The total sum awarded in the case was €7,524.
