Niamh Dermody of Western Distributor Road in Galway had been working as a checkout supervisor in the supermarket chain's Edward Square outlet in Galway for more than three years when she was told to go and work on the deli counter.

A Dunnes Stores representative told an Employment Appeals Tribunal hearing into Dermody's claim for unfair dismissal last month that it wanted her to move to the hot deli counter because she was a valued employee and there had been "some complaints about younger members of staff that were working there".

But Dermody said that she had already told the personnel manager at her interview that she was a vegetarian and couldn't handle meat. She said she would "rather clean toilets" than work on the deli counter.

When the company eventually persuaded her to try out the job, she became ill and said that if she stayed on the deli "she could be sick in front of customers".

Dermody also told the tribunal, however, that she saw the deli job as a "lowering in status".

The tribunal backed Dermody's claim because Dunnes had not followed agreed procedure in handling the worker's complaint.