Five pregnancy and maternity Employment Tribunal claims that were successful in 2017

In this post we look at five examples of successful Employment Tribunal claims for pregnancy and maternity discrimination that were made in the Employment Tribunal in 2017

Freear v Vossloh Cogifer UK Ltd 1800747/2016

Summary of claim: the Claimant informed her employer that she was pregnant on 9 December 2015. Later that day she was told that her position was at risk of redundancy, and was later threatened with disciplinary action after she was signed off work sick by her GP. The Employment Tribunal held that she had been threatened with redundancy and disciplinary action because she was pregnant.

Compensation awarded: £43,735.09

Click here for our analysis of Freear v Vossloh Cogifer UK Ltd 1800747/2016

Onigbanjo v London Borough of Croydon 2301468/2016

Summary of claim: the Employment Tribunal held that the failure to carry out a risk assessment, in a situation where her employer was aware that she was pregnant, that her work was of a nature that could involve harm or danger to the health and safety of a new or expectant mother, and that the risk arose from work processes or conditions, constituted pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

Compensation awarded: to be determined at a further remedy hearing

Click here for our anlaysis of Onigbanjo v London Borough of Croydon

Doyle v Associated Training Solutions Ltd 2405460/2016

Summary of claim: a complaint was made by a third party regarding something the Claimant was alleged to have said (on a hearsay basis). The Claimant was subsequently disciplined and dismissed as a result of this allegation, and the Tribunal held that she had been discriminated against because of her pregnancy for the following reasons: 1) there was a difference in treatment between the Claimant and a male colleague in similar circumstances; 2) that the Tribunal inferred that one of the reasons for the Claimant’s dismissal was an attempt to avoid paying her statutory maternity pay; and 3) comments had been made by colleagues previously about the Claimant needing to return to work early from any period of maternity leave that she took.

Compensation awarded: to be determined at a further remedy hearing

Click here for our analysis of Doyle v Associated Training Solutions Ltd

Hale v Dentons UKMEA Legal Services ET/2200450/2017

Summary of claim: the Employment Tribunal held that there were sufficient facts to infer that pregnancy and maternity discrimination may have taken place as: 1) the Claimant was coincidentally dismissed upon her return from maternity leave; 2) the Tribunal took the view that there was not a fair and genuine selection process in which the Claimant was genuinely rated less highly than her colleagues; 3) that there was a failure to take notes of the meetings, and that there was the lack of process that one would normally expect from such redundancy exercises. The Tribunal decided that, on the balance of probabilities, the Claimant’s colleagues made the conscious decision that the easiest option would be to make the Claimant redundant as she was away on maternity leave and this would cause the least disruption.

Compensation awarded: to be determined at a further remedy hearing

Click here for our analysis of Hale v Dentons UKMEA Legal Services

Ginger v Department for Work and Pensions 3401940/2015

Summary of claim: the Employment Tribunal held that the refusal to allow the Claimant time off work for further IVF treatment amounted to direct sex discrimination, as the Tribunal held that a man would not have been spoken to in such a manner.

Compensation awarded: £24,387.64

Click here for our analysis of Ginger v Department for Work and Pensions