Offaly pharmacy ordered to pay €50k to pregnant pharmacist

Seán McCárthaigh

An Offaly pharmacy has been ordered to pay €50,000 compensation to a pharmacist who was dismissed shortly after she informed its owner that she was pregnant.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that Rose Finlay Pharmacy on Main Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly had breached the Employment Equality Act 1998 on grounds of gender.

Pharmacist Dikeledi Nkele Mushapho gave evidence that she started a role as a supervising pharmacist in November 2024 and was successfully managing her team through the busy Christmas period.

She told the WRC that she had received a lot of positive feedback from the owner of the pharmacy.

However, she claimed the way she was treated in the workplace changed markedly after she notified the owner in February 2025 that she was pregnant, which culminated in her being dismissed on March 28th, 2025.

Ms Mushapho said she was subjected to increased micromanagement and scrutiny after telling the pharmacy about her pregnancy.

She discovered at a later stage that a consultant brought into the pharmacy had been instructed to assess her performance, rather than to support the team as she had initially been told.

Ms Mushapho said she found a conversation about her performance felt “like an ambush” and was “belittling and intimidating” as well as being “unwarranted.”

She was also asked to accept a demotion through a pay cut, which she believed was unjustified and directly linked to her pregnancy

The WRC heard she was summarily dismissed with only four weeks’ notice at a meeting in a coffee shop and no due process after she refused to accept the demotion.

Ms Mushapho said no concerns had ever been raised about her work performance before telling her manager about her pregnancy, which suggested it was the catalyst for her demotion and dismissal.

She told the WRC that the speed and nature of her dismissal and the hostile environment in the workplace had left her emotionally distressed and mentally exhausted.

Her solicitor, Conor McCrave, submitted that her dismissal was “discriminatory, unfair and procedurally flawed.”

The WRC heard that Ms Mushapho did not appeal the decision to terminate her employment, as the only person who could hear the appeal was the person who fired her.

WRC adjudication officer Conor Stokes said the complainant was a credible witness and no exceptional circumstances were provided unrelated to her pregnancy that could explain her dismissal.

Mr Stokes said he was satisfied that Ms Mushapho had established that she was discriminatorily dismissed in circumstances where she was pregnant.

No representative of the pharmacy attended a hearing of the case at the WRC.

Mr Stokes said the pharmacy had not engaged with the WRC process since coming on record.

He ordered the company to pay Ms Mushapho compensation of €50,000 – the equivalent of a half-year salary.