A Donegal County Council employee who had temporary contracts renewed year after year but was left out of work after telling her bosses she was pregnant has won €45,000 for her discriminatory dismissal nearly five years ago.
The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Fionnuala Bonner the sum on foot of her complaints under the Employment Equality Act and the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003.
RTE reports that Ms Bonner had been hired as a supervisor in the council’s environmental division to carry out water safety monitoring on initial temporary contracts for nine months in 2015 and, after a five-week gap, a further ten months in 2016, the WRC heard.
Seven weeks after her second contract ended in January 2017 she was hired for a water project officer role, a post extended in January 2019 past its original 24 months.
The council, which was represented by Keith Irvine of the Local Government Management Association (LGMA), said Ms Bonner’s post had been contingent on EU funding.
But this was disputed by Ms Bonner’s barrister, Patricia McCallum BL, who appeared instructed by Etain Boyce of Boyce Kelly Solicitors, who said her client thought her role was secure and never thought it was either contingent on funding or only for a fixed period.
In February 2019, Ms Bonner told her employer that she was pregnant.
