17/06/2026
A Dublin takeaway restaurant that refused to allow a Muslim employee to wear her hijab at work has been ordered to pay compensation of over €30,000 for religious discrimination and other breaches of employment legislation, including unfair dismissal.
The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that Beauty and Beef Limited had discriminated against Hajar Aqqa, who worked as a counter assistant, in breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998 on grounds of gender, race and religion, for which she was awarded €13,000.
The WRC said the company had failed to provide any objective or legitimate reason to forbid the wearing of the hijab.
The WRC also found she had been unfairly dismissed after two months in the job in March 2024 when she complained that she was being paid below the national minimum wage.
The complainant, who comes from Morocco, claimed her employer had described her home country as “a sh*thole” and said he did not like people from ...