The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has made an award of €20,000 in favour of an employee of Asba Meats who was discriminated against on gender grounds while she was pregnant.

Complainant Thayane Sousa represented herself at the WRC. Asba Meats did not attend the adjudication hearing, which was held in June of this year.

In her complaint, Ms Sousa said that after she informed her employer that she was pregnant, there was an “immediate and noticeable change in the attitude towards her”.

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She said that she was assigned tasks outside the scope of her role and which were significantly more physically demanding.

She submitted that her manager did not call her to work and told her to rest. She further submitted that when she asked why she was not being called to work, she was told it was due to Asba’s financial difficulties.

She submitted that her colleagues were working as normal.

Submission

The wide-ranging submission also showed repeated text message enquiries regarding delayed salary payments.

Ms Sousa does not speak English and her hearing was conducted with the assistance of a Portuguese interpreter sourced by the WRC.

The WRC noted that “there was no attendance by, or on behalf of, the respondent at the adjudication hearing”.

WRC adjudication officer Ewa Sobanska found that the complaint was “well founded” and ordered Asba Meats to pay the complainant €20,000 in compensation.

Other findings

Asba Meats has had two other findings against it by the WRC.

An award for unfair dismissal and unpaid redundancy made by the WRC earlier this year was the subject of a decree in Ennis District Court last month, where Asba Meats was ordered to pay Shahid Kamal over €22,000 following an application by Kamal’s solicitor.

In May 2024, the WRC ruled in favour of Meenaz Sheikh, who had been employed as HR director of Asba Meats between April 2021 and November 2022.

She alleged she was unfairly dismissed after arriving for work 15 to 20 minutes late, along with other staff.

She submitted that she thought she was singled out because she had raised concerns about some of the activities of Asba Meats that, in her view, might have been illegal.

She was awarded €2,480.24, equivalent to four weeks’ pay.

In October of this year, a former employee of Asba Meats was awarded €60,000 in damages in Ennis Circuit Court for injuries received while working for company.

A receiver was appointed to Asba Meats in September by Tuffy Financial Services over the non-payment of a debt in the region of €330,000.

The Agri-Food Regulator confirmed that it has initiated proceedings against Asba Meats related to the non-payment of a number of suppliers for animals presented for slaughter.

Asba Meats is also listed as a co-defendant in a High Court action brought by Athenry Co-operative Mart.