Labour drop O’Connell after underpayment scandal

Labour has dropped Dún Laoghaire councillor Juliet O’Connell from their slate of election candidates after she was found to have underpaid a Bolivian employee at her business.

In a statement, Labour said, “the findings of this case are completely at odds with our party values and long-established position on protecting, promoting and strengthening workers’ rights.”

The party stated they were only made aware of O’Connell’s transgressions after a press query.

O’Connell, who also served as the party’s small business spokesperson, underpaid a Bolivian employee in her business The Zip Yard Dún Laoghaire.

The Workplace Relations Commission heard that Bolivian woman Patricia Oropeza-Vedia feared losing her work permit and resigned for fear of being deported from Ireland.

Oropeza-Vedia came to Ireland in 2019 on a student visa and started working for O’Connell’s business part-time before becoming a full-time employee in the hopes of gaining an employment permit.

The job offer letter from O’Connell’s company in support of Oropeza-Vedia’s work permit application stated that she would be employed as a “business development interior designer” with a salary of €30,000, but the hearing found that Oropeza-Vedia was only being paid €23,920 a year.

When Oropeza-Vedia attempted to renew the permit in early 2023, the application was rejected as records from Revenue showed she had been earning less than what was stated in her original visa application.

She resigned from the business in February 2023 as she was afraid she would be deported if she was found to be working illegally.

The Workplace Relations Commission found that Oropeza-Vedia was only paid €460 per week, or €23,920 a year, well below what was outlined in her contract.

O’Connell has ordered to pay her former employee €1,154 for 10 days’ unpaid annual leave entitlements and the same sum for breach of statutory rights.

O’Connell was also ordered to pay a further €1,731 as the job description “fails to explain the reality of Oropeza-Vedia’s role in the respondent’s business”, bringing the total sum awarded to €11,417.

O’Connell had been campaigning for re-election as recently as last week, but has since scrubbed all of her social media accounts, with Labour’s website also deleting O’Connell’s page.