Traveller influencer’s compensation for being "effectively branded a thief" in Zara changing room

A Tiktok influencer who makes videos of herself trying on new clothes has won €20,000 in compensation after claiming she was effectively branded a thief by staff in a flagship Zara store.

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 Dublin Civil Circuit 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, of Glendhu, Ratoath Road, Dublin 15, claimed that 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."

Judge Roderick Maguire agreed that she had been wronged and ordered that she be paid €20,000 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.

Her barrister, Esther Earley, told the court how Ms. Joyce frequently photographed herself in changing rooms as she tried on fashions in different stores.

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 Maguire said that he found it very difficult to accept anything said in court by the store witness due to the apparent “glaring inconsistencies” in evidence, RTÉ reported.

The judge found in favour of Ms. Joyce, describing her as a truthful witness and saying: “The plaintiff has given honest and forthright evidence.”

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.

He said 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.

Neighbours of Ms. Joyce, on the Ratoath Road in Dublin 15 said they hadn’t seen her in a little while but had heard about the case.

One woman, who was walking with her young daughter, said what happened to her was “an awful thing."

“The poor girl. Trying to put on clothes and then something like that happens. Ah, it’s awful business, a real awful thing. I haven’t seen her in a while. But she deserves that money,” she said.

One man simply said “fair play to her” when asked about her case.

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.

*This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.