Irish woman sacked by Israeli company over comments about war should seek advice, says PM

Courtney Carey was fired from Wix after describing Israel as a 'terrorist state'

Courtney Carey worked as a customer care team lead at the tech company. Photo: LinkedIn

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Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said a woman who was fired by an Israeli company for her comments about the Israel-Gaza war should seek legal advice if her dismissal was a result of her political views.

Courtney Carey was sacked from her role as a customer care team lead at Israeli tech company Wix, which employs 500 people in Dublin, after posting on LinkedIn the messages "Free Palestine" and "Israel is a terrorist state".

She separately wrote that rights groups concluded that "Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid" and that it had cut off food, water and electricity to more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.

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

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

"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," Nir Zohar said.

"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 members and their Israeli colleagues."

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

However, he added: "Under Irish employment law, it is not OK 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, deputy prime minister Micheal Martin said he had not seen the posts, but that it would be unacceptable for someone to be sacked for sharing a viewpoint, as long as they 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 [provided] they don't advocate for violence in pursuit of those objectives.

"We uphold the right of people for freedom of expression."

Speaking in the Dail, the lower house of the Irish parliament, Solidarity TD Mick Barry raised Ms Carey’s dismissal, saying: "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."

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett told the Dail that the case was "particularly disturbing".

"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," he said.