A WOMAN who was discriminated against, harassed and dismissed from her job in a property company has been awarded €30,000 by the Equality Tribunal.
Zena Boyle, who was employed by Ely Property Group Ltd, said she was harassed by her line manager shortly after she started in 2005 because she did not follow instructions to act in what she considered a reckless, aggressive and occasionally unlawful manner.
Ely rejected Ms Boyle’s allegations and said there were issues around her performance and conduct that led to her dismissal. The manager no longer works for Ely.
Ms Boyle, who was the housing manager of a student accommodation complex in Donegal, said when she informed her manager of problems with the property, he responded to her concerns with a mixture of annoyance and abusive language. The tribunal heard that when a problem arose with residents, he told Ms Boyle to get them “by the scruff of the neck” and throw them out on to the road.
On another occasion, the manager told Ms Boyle she was useless, couldn’t control the students, and that what they needed was a man to sort them out and that “he would come down from Dublin and punch them in the face”.
The tribunal heard that in late September 2005, Ms Boyle was instructed to organise the recruitment of a live-in caretaker for the complex. She said that on November 4th, 2005, the new caretaker arrived at her office to introduce himself and that later she received a phone call from her manager to say she was dismissed. She said the caretaker later informed her he was recruited to replace her, that her manager had instructed him to fire her on his arrival and used foul, derogatory language to describe her.
Ely rejected it had discriminated against Ms Boyle. A colleague of the manager said she had never heard him use the foul language attributed to him.
Equality officer Vivian Jackson said he was satisfied the manager believed, that as a woman, Ms Boyle was not capable of using physical force to deal with troublesome students at the complex.
Mr Jackson said it was clear the manager had decided to terminate Ms Boyle’s contract when he asked her to organise, without knowledge, interviews for her replacement. “I am satisfied that this decision was premised on his belief that as a female the complainant was unable to deal with troublesome students in the same manner a man could,” he said.
Mr Jackson awarded Ms Boyle €30,000 for the distress she suffered due to discrimination and loss of earnings.
