Employment Tribunal awards Claimant over £15,000 in sex discrimination claim (Ms M Podlecka v MYM Global Ltd 3302831/2018)
In the case of Ms M Podlecka v MYM Global Ltd 3302831/2018 the Employment Tribunal held that the Claimant should be awarded over £15,000 in compensation after she was wrongfully dismissed and discrimianted against.
The facts in Ms M Podlecka v MYM Global Ltd
Ms Podlecka commenced employment with MYM Global Ltd on 21 December 2016 as a Cost Estimator. Ms Podlecka alleged that he following had occurred during the course of her employment:
- That she had been subjected to sex discrimination in the workplace by Moshe Genish, the owner of the business and her line manager – comments of a sexualised nature were made by him and Mr Genish also inappropriately touched her hand on a few occasions;
- That her colleagues had acted in a hostile manner towards her;
- That Claudiu Praj had subjected her to abusive language and made derogatory comments about her religion and how old she was
- That Mr Praj would treat her as a secretary and not in the same way as he would treat male colleagues
On 8 August 2017 Ms Podlecka complained to Mr Genish about Mr Praj’s conduct. He launched an informal investigation; Ms Podlecka felt that the investigation did not include her enough and so she went home.
On 9 August 2017 Ms Podlecka sent Mr Genish an email containing a formal grievance (which complained primarily about Mr Praj’s conduct).
On 11 August 2017 Mr Genish dismissed Ms Podlecka, calling her immature and stating that the workplace was not a kindergarten.
Ms Podlecka subsequently made Employment Tribunal claims for sex discrimination, unlawful deduction from wages, and notice pay.
The decision of the Employment Tribunal
The Employment Tribunal gave default judgment in Ms Podlecka’s claims, MYM Global Ltd having failed to have provided a response to the claim.
The Employment Tribunal awarded Ms Podlecka the following sums as compensation for her successful claims:
- £10,000 in respect of injury to feelings (in compensation for the sex discrimination claim)
- £1,750 in respect of loss of earnings
- £350 in respect of notice pay
- £1,250 in respect of holiday pay
An uplift of 25% for failure to comply with the ACAS Code of Practice.
Our solicitors’ view on Ms M Podlecka v MYM Global Ltd
Chris Hadrill, partner in the employment department at Redmans, commented on the case: “Employers must take care to carry out fair, transparent and prompt investigations into any complaints made by employees, arguably particularly so if those complaints involve allegations of discrimination. A failure to carry out a fair investigation may, as in this case, lead to a successful claim of discrimination being made.”
The judgment of the Employment Tribunal in Ms M Podlecka v MYM Global Ltd can be found here.