Workers at UAE ambassador’s house say they were treated ‘like slaves’

One of three Filipina women awarded €80,000 each yesterday for constructive dismissal after enduring "horrific" working conditions at the home of the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dublin has said they were treated "like slaves".

The women employed at the home of the ambassador were forced to work 15 hours a day, seven days a week for €170 per month, the Employment Appeals Tribunal accepted yesterday. Describing their working conditions as "horrific", the tribunal awarded each of the claimants €80,000.

Migrant Rights Centre Ireland legal officer Virginija Petrauskaite, who has been working with the three women since 2011, said the judgment was "extraordinary and unprecedented".

Myra Calderon, Laylanie Lapanga and Jennifer Vilaranda took the case against the UAE ambassador, Khalid Nasser Rashed Lootah, and his wife, Mehra Metad Alghubaisi.

The ambassador and his wife did not attend the hearing despite being notified twice, so the accounts of the claimants were taken by the tribunal at face value. At a previous Rights Commissioner’s hearing, the ambassador and his wife invoked diplomatic immunity and the claimants lost the case.

Speaking to The Irish Times last night, Ms Vilaranda said the ruling represented "justice" for her and her co-workers. "I didn't have any day off," she said. "I worked seven days. We were constantly on call and our passports were taken.

“They treated us badly, like slaves. If the food was not good and they were angry with me, they said they would put us in jail.”

Trapped

Tribunal chairwoman Niamh O’Carroll Kelly said the confiscation of their documentation had left the women trapped.

The three workers were hired through a recruitment agency and had initially worked for the ambassador in the UAE before coming to Ireland with the family in April 2011. The three women shared a bedroom in theambassador’s home – but as the room only had two beds, two of the three had to share.

Ms O’Carroll Kelly said that if they had been on the national minimum wage and working the same hours, they would have earned approximately €47,000 each.

She added that the case was deeply disturbing and apologised “as an Irish citizen” to the women involved.