An influencer has won a five-figure payout after a security guard pulled back the curtain on her in a changing room, leaving her “humiliated” in front of other shoppers.
Krystal Joyce, who is an Irish traveller, was “half-dressed” when the female employee looked into her changing cubicle at a Zara store in Dublin.
The 20-year-old, who was trying on outfits and filming for her TikTok channel at the time of the incident, has since been awarded $21,000 USD in damages.
Joyce told Dublin Circuit Civil Court she had been “interrogated” in front of other customers and said the security guard falsely accused her of being “engaged in criminal activity”.
The 20-year-old argued this constituted as defamation because it could affect her image and job as an influencer, The Sun reported.
A judge agreed that she had been wronged, noting there were “glaring inconsistencies” in evidence presented by Zara and the security firm.
He added that Joyce had suffered significant upset due to the actions of staff in the store, particularly when her cubicle curtain was pulled back which left her “humiliated,” one Irish newspaper reported.
“I find 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 Traveling community of which she is a member,” Judge Roderick Maguire said, according to the Mail Online.
“This was a public place she was used to frequenting and in the habit of trying on clothes … I accept there were other people there, and I fully accept her evidence.”
Joyce was awarded $10,500 damages against ITX Retail Limited, which operates the Zara store, and a further $10,500 against security company Bidvest Noonan (ROI) Limited, which provides it with guards.
The young influencer, who documents her life as an Irish traveller and has 122,000 followers, has received an outpouring of support from women online.
Inditex operates over 7200 Zara stores in 93 markets worldwide.
