A TikTok influencer who makes videos of herself trying on new clothes has won 20,000 euros in compensation after claiming she was effectively branded a thief by staff in a flagship Zara store.
Irish traveller Krystal Joyce, 20, claimed she was left upset when a female security guard pulled back the curtain of a changing room cubicle while she was partly dressed inside.
She told a court that she was held against her will in the changing area before being ‘interrogated’ in front of other shoppers, despite having done nothing wrong.
Ms Joyce claimed she was a victim of defamation as it had been implied within earshot and sight of other people that she had been ‘engaged in criminal activity’.
A judge agreed that she had been wronged and ordered that she be paid 20,000 euros in damages by Zara bosses and their security company.
Ms Joyce who has more than 122,000 followers on TikTok claimed she was falsely made out to be a criminal while trying on an outfit at Ireland’s largest Zara store in Blanchardstown shopping centre, Dublin.
She won the huge sum in damages after hiring a legal team to represent her and taking her case to the Dublin Circuit Civil Court.
Her barrister Esther Earley told the court how Ms Joyce frequently photographed herself in changing rooms as she tried on ladies fashions in different stores.
Irish traveller Krystal Joyce, 20, claimed she was left upset when a female security guard pulled back the curtain of a changing room cubicle while she was partly dressed inside
She told a court that she was held against her will in the changing area before being ‘interrogated’ in front of other shoppers, despite having done nothing wrong
A judge agreed that she had been wronged and ordered that she be paid 20,000 euros in damages by Zara bosses and their security company
She said Ms Joyce would then promote and recommend the outfits to her TikTok followers, naming the shops where the items could be bought
Ms Joyce was in the changing area of the 52,000 square foot Blanchardstown store which opened two-years-ago when she was stunned to hear a security worker repeatedly say within the hearing of other people: ‘I am calling the guards’.
She claimed she was upset and had asked if she could leave the changing area after a female guard opened the curtain to peer at her, added Ms Earley.
Ms Joyce, from Dublin, was then told by security that she was not being allowed to leave.
The court heard she was eventually permitted to go on the shop floor where security and shop staff continued ‘interrogating’ her.
Ms Earley suggested during cross-examination that a purported note of the incident written by Zara had been ‘falsified’.
Judge Roderick Maguire said he found it very difficult to accept anything said in court by the store witness due to the apparent ‘glaring inconsistencies’ in evidence.
The judge found in favour of Ms Joyce, describing her as a truthful witness and saying: ‘The plaintiff has given honest and forthright evidence.’
Ms Joyce who has more than 122,000 followers on TikTok claimed she was falsely made out to be a criminal while trying on an outfit at Ireland’s largest Zara store in Blanchardstown shopping centre, Dublin
She won the huge sum in damages after hiring a legal team to represent her and taking her case to the Dublin Circuit Civil Court
He ruled that she had suffered significant upset due to the actions of staff in the store, particularly when her cubicle curtain was pulled back.
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 contrast, the judge said he found the evidence of the first defendant, Zara, not to be persuasive at all, and the evidence of one defence witness had not been credible in any way.
The judge held that the actions of Zara, and the security staff had been in tandem with each other and constituted a defamation of Ms Joyce that would reduce her in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public.
He said: ‘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.’
Ms Joyce 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, which provides it with guards.
Court costs were also ordered against both defendants, although the amount has not been reported.
Ms Joyce who was represented by Aisling Woods of Michael Kelleher Solicitors, James Street, Dublin, has yet to comment on her court victory.
Zara and Bidvest Noonan which describes itself as ‘a market leader in security services’ employing 20,000 people across the UK and Ireland, did not respond to a request for comment.