Pregnancy and Sex Discrimination Case Settles for £25,000 Before Hearing

Summary

How Fiona Martin secured a £25,000 settlement in a pregnancy and sex discrimination case before it reached the Employment Tribunal.

Situation

After the birth of her first baby Eliza began to feel she was being treated unfavourably by her line manager and other work colleagues. When her second pregnancy ended with a miscarriage she was shocked by her manager’s insensitivity. Eliza felt she had no alternative but to raise a grievance about her line manager’s unsympathetic behaviour towards her. This was not upheld.

When she returned to work after her miscarriage, Eliza found herself ignored and excluded by workmates. There seemed to be a lot of resentment towards her because of her part-time hours. Matters became a lot worse when Eliza announced she was pregnant again.

As Eliza started her maternity leave the company began a restructure which put her job at risk. She interviewed for an alternative position in the company. But despite being well qualified for these roles, Eliza was not appointed to a new position – even though, as a maternity returner, her employer had a duty to select her for an alternative role over and above other employees at risk of redundancy.

What we did

Fiona Martin helped her raise a second formal grievance. When a settlement could not be reached through negotiation, Fiona issued pregnancy discrimination and sex discrimination proceedings in the Employment Tribunal. The case settled shortly after Eliza’s employer had filed its response.

The result

As a result, Eliza recovered £25,000 for injury to feelings and loss of earnings. She also received a favourable reference noting all her skills and competencies.

Check out all of our resources on pregnancy and maternity rights at work.