A solicitor based in north Dublin has been ordered to pay €21,000 in compensation to her former legal secretary, who was dismissed just weeks after informing her employer that she was pregnant, reports Breaking News.
The Workplace Relations Commission found that Ashimedua Okonkwo, who operates Cyril & Co Solicitors in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, breached the Employment Equality Act 1998 by discriminating against Michele Merrigan on the grounds of gender, reports Breaking News.
Ms Merrigan, a Brazilian national, said she was dismissed without reasonable cause in March 2024 after working in the role for 13 months.
She said she was told her dismissal was due to gross misconduct and that it was carried out without any investigation, disciplinary procedure or right of appeal, reports Breaking News.
Ms Okonkwo rejected the claim of unfair dismissal, maintaining that Ms Merrigan’s employment was terminated for gross misconduct arising from serious errors in her work.
The solicitor alleged that the legal secretary had provided one client with an incorrect court date, leading to a bench warrant being issued, and said another client faced a deportation order because Ms Merrigan failed to ensure his appeal was processed, reports Breaking News.
Ms Okonkwo said both clients were considering making complaints to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority about her firm.
She also claimed the complainant’s actions and omissions caused “a lot of embarrassment” to her legal practice in relation to several other clients, reports Breaking News.
Ms Merrigan disputed the claim that a series of administrative errors, even if proven, could amount to gross misconduct, describing that argument as “unsustainable.”
She said a more credible explanation for her dismissal was her pregnancy, which she said was seen as an inconvenience by Ms Okonkwo, reports Breaking News.
The WRC heard that Ms Merrigan obtained a sick certificate on February 21st, 2024, one week after she had been informed of her rights and obligations related to her pregnancy.
She told the WRC that she was made to feel guilty about being pregnant and became stressed after receiving frequent questions about her due date and the length of time she would be absent from work while on sick leave, reports Breaking News.
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Ms Merrigan said she received a termination letter by email on March 14th, 2024, without being given any opportunity to respond or defend herself.
This happened on the same day that the client who was the subject of the bench warrant attended the office, reports Breaking News.
She said the offices of Cyril & Co were consistently extremely busy and disorganised and that she believed Ms Okonkwo was overwhelmed.
Her barrister, Eoin Morris BL, said Ms Okonkwo’s dismissal letter was “entirely predetermined and contrived,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Okonkwo, however, claimed Ms Merrigan had berated and verbally abused the client in her office, accusing him of being drunk and stupid before later admitting she had provided him with the wrong court date.
The solicitor said it was “all too much” to have a grown man crying in her office, reports Breaking News.
She said she quickly concluded that she had lost all trust and confidence in her secretary and had no choice but to dismiss her immediately.
Giving evidence, Ms Okonkwo said she would never have dismissed Ms Merrigan for the court date error alone and claimed the dismissal was due to her conduct towards the client, reports Breaking News.
Ms Okonkwo said she was delighted when she was informed in January 2024 that Ms Merrigan was pregnant.
WRC adjudication officer Patricia Owens ruled that the solicitor had pursued Ms Merrigan’s due dates with “a degree of persistence” which she found to be “intrusive” as well as “wholly unnecessary and inappropriate,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Owens noted that both parties described their working relationship as positive before Ms Merrigan disclosed her pregnancy, but said their accounts diverged after that point.
She said there had been no prior issues raised by Ms Okonkwo regarding Ms Merrigan’s conduct or performance before the dismissal, reports Breaking News.
Ms Owens said she did not accept the solicitor’s explanation that she was so overwhelmed on the day of the dismissal that she failed to clearly state the correct reason for termination in the dismissal letter and instead included matters “as they came to mind.”
The adjudication officer noted that Ms Okonkwo is an experienced solicitor who understands the importance of “getting it right” when drafting dismissal letters, reports Breaking News.
“No competent solicitor would have made such basic mistakes,” said Ms Owens, reports Breaking News.
Ms Owens said Ms Merrigan accepted that she made an error regarding the court date and acknowledged she had an altercation with a client.
She said she could not determine the severity of the altercation due to inconsistencies in witness evidence, reports Breaking News.
Ms Owens concluded that Ms Okonkwo’s failure to follow any form of due process and her failure to accurately record the reason for dismissal in the termination letter were fatal to her defence, reports Breaking News.
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