A Dunnes Stores employee was sacked for refusing to shave the goatee beard he had worn for 38 years or wear a hygiene mask at work.
The Labour Court, in a case referred to yesterday in its annual report, found Mr William Peter O'Byrne was unfairly dismissed and should be reinstated.
The court, in a case heard in Cork last October, upheld Mr O'Byrne's claim that he had been discriminated against on the basis of gender. The court was told that the Dunnes staff handbook states male employees must always be clean-shaven.
In December 2001, Mr O'Byrne was told he would have to remove his beard or face dismissal. He refused.
After several meetings, it was suggested he wear a hygiene mask at work. He did so for a week but encountered derogatory comments from customers. He stopped wearing the mask and, following further meetings and the invocation of the firm's disciplinary procedures, was dismissed in April 2002.
The case is one of many that were dealt with by the court last year which is summarised in its annual report.
In another, it awarded €25,000 compensation to a Chinese takeaway employee who became pregnant and was told she was to lose her job the day after she showed scan images to her employer.
The owners of the Peking House in Sligo claimed Ms Michelle Fox had been dismissed for misconduct, but the court said this claim was without foundation and she had been sacked because of her pregnancy.
Along with cases of discriminatory dismissal, the court also heard claims under headings such as employment equality appeals, equal treatment, working hours and the minimum wage.
Industrial relations cases, however, accounted for 85 per cent of the total referred to the court in 2003.
While the number of cases increased by 29.8 per cent to 1,220, the chairman of the court, Mr Kevin Duffy, said this did not indicate a worsening of industrial relations.
