Ireland

Courtney Carey, fired by Wix over social media posts about Palestine, wins €35,000 in compensation

Customer care team leader claims she was ‘blacklisted’ from tech sector because of views

Ms Carey said she lost her studio apartment after being dismissed by Wix. Photograph: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
Stephen Bourke
Mon Jul 22 2024 - 11:27

Courtney Carey, the worker who was fired by Israeli tech firm Wix over posts on social media about the conflict in Palestine, has won €35,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal.

Ms Carey, a customer care team leader who was sacked by Wix Online Platforms Ltd last October, was awarded the sum on foot of a complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

“It was like I was blacklisted from the tech sector,” Ms Carey told the tribunal at a hearing last month.

Rosemary Mallon, appearing for Wix, had told the WRC that the company conceded the dismissal was procedurally unfair and the hearing was only to discuss compensation.

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Because of the concession by the company, last month’s hearing focused on Ms Carey’s efforts to find new work after her sacking in order to meet the standard set by the Labour Court in a 1999 ruling, when it decided an out-of-work claimant “should employ a reasonable amount of time each weekday in seeking work”.

In her decision, adjudicating officer Marie Flynn declared Ms Carey’s complaint “well-founded”. However, she wrote that the complainant had only produced “sparse” documentary proof of her attempts to find new work. She added that the number of documented job applications provided to the tribunal at hearing was “not sufficient given that [Ms Carey] was out of work for six months following her dismissal”.

Assessing her maximum jurisdiction under the Unfair Dismissals Act, Ms Flynn noted that Ms Carey had been out of work for 26 weeks starting on October 23rd, 2023, having been paid four weeks’ notice, and therefore had suffered a loss of earnings of €20,000 during this period.

Because Ms Carey’s salary was now down €236.58 a week gross on what she had earned at Wix, the adjudicator added, if she was to stay on in her current job until the second anniversary of her dismissal, the worker would suffer a further loss of €18,453.30.

She directed Wix to pay Ms Carey €35,000 in compensation. The company has until the middle of August to lodge an appeal with the Labour Court.

“Having regard to all the circumstances of this case, I consider it just and equitable to award compensation to the complainant for her loss arising from her unfair dismissal,” Ms Flynn wrote.

Ms Carey’s solicitor, Barry Crushell, had submitted that the “very public nature of [Ms Carey’s] dismissal” had a “very direct impact on her career prospects”.

Under questioning by her barrister, Cillian McGovern, Ms Carey said that because Wix had decided she had committed gross misconduct and dismissed her on that basis, she was unable to claim social welfare as soon as she was out of work.

“Since my dismissal I was unable to pay my rent of €1,800 in a studio apartment,” Ms Carey said. “I lost that apartment, I had to move in with a family member.

“It was so hard to live off [social welfare] while paying that €1,800 rent. That was incredibly difficult, I really suffered from that,” she said.

The tribunal was told Ms Carey applied for between 50 and 60 vacancies, or around two to three jobs a week, in the six months she spent jobless. She found new work on a temporary contract with An Post as a clerk fielding customer calls on May 20th this year. This job paid €27,697.80 a year compared with her €40,000-a-year salary at Wix, the tribunal noted.

Questioned on her job applications, Ms Carey said: “I received no response whatsoever. These were all jobs I was qualified for and had relevant experience based on the job specifications. [A recruitment agency] said: ‘Was I dismissed?’ I said yes. They never spoke to me again regarding any job applications through that agency.”

She said her experience with Wix was in “people management” and “managing teams” and that she had initially been seeking new work at that level. She said she later began to apply for lower-paid jobs, including work as a bartender in a nightclub.

Ms Mallon put it to Ms Carey that there were “lots of people in support of your position”, citing a public fundraiser and public statements of support from politicians, which Ms Carey accepted.

Ms Carey said: “It was like I was blacklisted from the tech sector. There were multiple tweets, LinkedIn posts, all within that circle regarding me as a person who supports terrorism. I felt it incredibly difficult to have a conversation with people and dispute the claims made about me online.”

“I would have great interviews, conversations with people, and as soon as my previous employment was brought up – [there were] what I would assume to be background checks done on me – every line went cold,” Ms Carey said.