A Lithuanian woman who was unfairly sacked by the owner of a Centra store in Co Kildare has been awarded €4,000 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Jurgita Dzenkaityte, who had worked at the Centra Store on Main Street, Maynooth, for three years, was dismissed when her work permit expired on April 11th last year.
She told the tribunal that her employer had informed her he would not be applying for a renewal of the permit and she was "finished".
He had given her no written or verbal warnings and had never indicated he was unhappy with her work. She was given no reason for her dismissal.
Ms Dzenkaityte, who worked as a delicatessen assistant, sued the employer, Allied Stores Limited, Centra Maynooth, for unfair dismissal.
The employer told the tribunal that the situation had been outside its control. Ms Dzenkaityte's work permit expired on April 18th and she would no longer require a permit from May 1st, when Lithuania joined the EU.
Her employer did not want to renew the permit "for the sake of a couple of weeks", the tribunal was told.
Instead, her boss had told her to take a week's holiday that was due to her and suggested that she could return to work at the store on May 1st.
He told Ms Dzenkaityte that her permit had expired, but it had not crossed his mind that she would interpret this as a dismissal, the tribunal was told. He thought she had understood that she could return.
The employer also said he was aware that Ms Dzenkaityte would not be able to work legally between April 11th and May 1st.
The tribunal said it was satisfied the store had terminated the contract without notice and that the dismissal was unfair.
