Quids in for this young lady who was ‘left upset’ when Zara staff pulled back a dressing room curtain as she was getting changed – she’s just been awarded £16,000 in compensation.
Irish traveler and TikToker Krystal Joyce, 20, was only partly-dressed when a security guard opened up the cubicle at Ireland’s largest Zara store in Dublin.
Krystal says she was then ‘interrogated’ by the staff member who implied she was a criminal while other shoppers watched.
The female security guard stopped Krystal from leaving as she repeatedly said: ‘I’m calling the guards.’
She was eventually permitted to go onto the shop floor, but security and shop staff continued to interrogate her.
As per MailOnline, a judge has now ordered Zara and the security company to pay Krystal €20,000 (£16,600) in compensation, which is literally more than people get for things like assault or employment tribunals when they’ve been unfairly dismissed.
Krystal’s lawyer Esther Earley said her client frequently filmed herself trying on outfits in changing rooms for TikTok, and so because she was taking her sweet time in the changing rooms of this particular Zara, she was unfairly targeted as a potential thief (with her traveler background probably not helping matters).
Judge Roderick Maguire said he found it difficult to accept anything said in court by the store witness due to the ‘glaring inconsistencies’ in a note of the incident written by shop staff.
The judge also credited Krystal was a truthful witness, saying: ‘The plaintiff has given honest and forthright evidence.’
Judge Maguire said: ‘I find Ms Joyce was a truthful witness and was particularly upset because she has a social media presence through which she does her best to raise awareness for the Travelling community of which she is a member.’
In the end, he concluded that the actions of Zara and the security team constituted defamation and Krystal was awarded €10,000 damages against ITX Retail Limited, which operates the Zara store, and a further €10,000 against security company Bidvest Noonan (ROI) Limited. Not bad!
So, something to keep in mind next time retail store staff pull the curtain back on you or erroneously accuse you of shoplifting. Most people probably wouldn’t be bothered to drag the whole thing through the courts, but Krystal Joyce seized the opportunity and now she’s £16,000 richer for it.
She probably wasn’t even planning to buy anything from Zara, just using the shop’s stock to make her dumb TikTok videos in the changing rooms without their permission. What, that’s not illegal, is it?
Fair play to Krystal Joyce for making a small fortune out of the ordeal. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
For the woman who sued Zara after being sold a disgusting ‘dead mouse dress’, click HERE. Gross!
