Varadkar says it is ‘wrong’ to be fired for views after Israeli firm sacks Dublin woman

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he would advise an Irish woman fired from an Israeli company to seek legal advice if her dismissal was over her political views.

Speaking in the Dáil, Solidarity TD Mick Barry raised the dismissal of Courtney Carey from her role as a customer care team lead at Israeli tech company Wix, which employs 500 people in Dublin.

Mr Barry said: “She commented online about what she described correctly as the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. She was fired from her job for doing so. I am calling on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to speak out on this case.

“It could have a chilling effect on thousands of workers in this country who wish to speak out against a brutal war. It also creates a terrible precedent whereby workers can be fired for expressing a political point of view.”

Ms Carey posted on LinkedIn “Free Palestine” and “Israel is a terrorist state” prior to her dismissal.

She separately wrote that human rights groups had concluded that “Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid” and that it had cut off food, water and electricity to more than 2 million people in the Gaza strip.

She later said she condemns all forms of terrorism regardless of the perpetrator or victim.

The president of the Israeli software company said it had decided to “part ways” with Ms Carey.

לכל מי שפנה אלי ושאל, חולק את פרטי המקרה: pic.twitter.com/r2F0kTWlwS

— Nir Zohar (@nirzo) October 23, 2023

Nir Zohar said: “Wix is a global company, it is an open and a liberal company. We would never try to limit anyone’s political views, we do however also hold a strong set of internal values about our team spirit, partnership and friendship.

“These accusations in such troubling times not only harm our Israeli team’s spirit, they also threaten the great connection between our Dublin offices with our 500 team and their Israeli colleagues.”

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett told the Dáil that the case was “particularly disturbing”.

He said: “They sacked her because she had put posts online that according to her are quite mild posts, where she essentially laid the responsibility for the current violence in Gaza on the shoulders of the Israeli government for its apartheid policies, its occupation and its siege of Gaza.”

In response, Mr Varadkar said he did not know the details or facts of the case and therefore could not judgment.

However, he added: “Under Irish employment law, it is not okay to dismiss somebody because of their political views.

“I believe that to be wrong and would encourage the woman concerned to seek advice, whether from the WRC, a trade union or a solicitor, because it may well constitute wrongful dismissal and there are remedies that would then apply.

“Of course, all the facts would need to be known before we know what the outcome will be.”

Elsewhere, Tánaiste Micheál Martin told reporters he had not seen the posts, but said it would be “unacceptable” for someone to be fired for sharing a viewpoint if it did not call for violence.

Speaking at the Global Ireland Summit in Dublin, Mr Martin said: “Employees generally should be allowed their individual viewpoints. We live in a democracy here, we tolerate debate, freedom of speech and freedom of opinion”.

“People are entitled to different perspectives once they don’t advocate for violence in pursuit of those objectives.”

He added: “We uphold the right of people for freedom of expression.”