Case Study: Negotiating a Pregnancy & Maternity Discrimination Settlement

Summary

How our Employment Law solicitors helped to negotiate a favourable settlement on behalf of an employer who had been accused of pregnancy and maternity discrimination. This also included a claim of unfair and wrongful dismissal. Therefore, we provided employer advice on pregnancy and maternity discrimination and advised on unfair dismissal laws for employers to be aware of.

The situation

Eliza ran a stationery supplies company and employed Sue as her part-time Office Manager.

After a few years of working well together, Eliza and Sue decided to set up a delivery business. Eliza made the larger financial investment while Sue ran it on the days she was not working as Office Manager.

A month later, Sue fell pregnant but she was afraid to tell Eliza. After several weeks, she realised that she had no choice but to announce her news. Although on one level Eliza was pleased for Sue, Eliza made a number of apparently innocent remarks about how her business would be in trouble if all employees became pregnant. Eliza also told Sue that she regretted having invested in their delivery business and felt like she had wasted her money.

Their friendship remained quite positive – they continued to meet up outside of work and Eliza even went shopping for baby clothes with Sue. However, things were not quite the same at work.

During a work outing, Eliza joked about how Sue had been apprehensive about breaking the news of her pregnancy. Although Eliza had not intended any offence, Sue found this belittling.

Shortly before Sue was due to go on maternity leave, Eliza approached her about an error on a stationery bill. Sue reacted badly to this and swore at Eliza. Eliza told Sue that she was putting her response down to “pregnancy hormones”. Eliza thought she was doing Sue a favour, but Sue felt this was the final straw. Sue, therefore, resigned and raised a grievance about Eliza’s treatment of her.

Eliza felt the grievance was disingenuous and that Sue was exaggerating her upset. Eliza sourced an unqualified HR Consultant from the internet who misadvised and handled the process badly.

Sue then brought a claim in the Employment Tribunal which included a string of allegations of pregnancy and maternity discrimination, as well as constructive dismissal and wrongful dismissal. Eliza decided to lodge a defence to the claim herself but soon realised that she was out of her depth when a hearing was listed.

What Martin Searle Solicitors did

Eliza contacted our Employment solicitors in Eastbourne. We were able to act at short notice.

We attended a Preliminary Hearing on Eliza’s behalf and persuaded Sue to withdraw certain parts of her claim. We also persuaded Sue that a number of her allegations were “harassment” rather than direct discrimination. Since the Equality Act does not recognise harassment on grounds of pregnancy or maternity this meant a number of her remaining allegations were misconceived. A short and cost-effective timetable for dealing with the rest of the case was then agreed.

We then gave Eliza clear advice about the claim brought against her by Sue – both its prospects, its likely value, and what we might achieve. We advised that although a number of Sue’s minor allegations would not succeed, Eliza was at risk of Sue succeeding in bringing a claim of constructive dismissal and discrimination because of the assumptions and offensive comments that Eliza had made about Sue’s pregnancy hormones.

After receiving Sue’s Schedule of Loss which placed a very high value on her claim, we negotiated a favourable settlement on Eliza’s behalf. We illustrated to Sue’s solicitors why parts of her claim were misconceived, we set out the weaknesses in her case, and we showed that Sue’s expectations were unrealistic. We persuaded Sue to accept around 20% of the original offer, which reflected only a nominal amount more than the legal costs that Eliza would incur in preparing for and attending a Final Hearing.

The result

Eliza avoided the risk of a Tribunal award being made against her business and saved the management costs of attending a two-day hearing. By agreeing on appropriate settlement terms, Eliza secured a commitment to confidentiality, which protected her business’s reputation.

Eliza’s business is still trading successfully.

Learn more about our Settlement Agreement advice services for employers and how we can help you successfully negotiate a Settlement Agreement. Contact us today on 01273 609911, or email info@ms-solicitors.co.uk.