This is another âprotected periodâ case, involving selection of a pregnant worker for redundancy. In this case, the respondent employer did not appear at the hearing although he did make written submissions to the Tribunal.
The complainant worked for the employer from February 2005 until she was made redundant in June 2008. She announced that she was pregnant in December 2007 and, according to evidence accepted by the Tribunal, she was pressurised into taking a two month period of maternity leave and agreeing to work from home during the leave period. A male colleague was employed from May 2008 to help with the workload and the Tribunal accepted that he was doing broadly similar work to the complainant, at a more junior level. Apparent financial difficulties in the company resulted in the complainantâs redundancy on 15 June 2008.
The Tribunal once again emphasised the special status of the protected period for pregnant workers, including the entire period of pregnancy and maternity leave, as set out in the Labour Court decision in Trailercare Holdings -v- Healy (EDA128, 16 March 2012). The burden of proof was therefore on the respondent to show that the dismissal was not connected to the pregnancy and he had failed to do so. He had argued that the choice was between himself and the complainant but the Tribunal accepted that the choice was between the complainant and her recently appointed male colleague.
The complainant also attempted to raise a victimisation issue in that she claimed that the respondent refused to pay her holiday and some commission unless she agreed a full settlement with him. However the Tribunal concluded that this issue was not mentioned in the original complaint and was only raised over a year after the original complaint and therefore could not be addressed by the Tribunal.
She was awarded âŹ95,000 (being the approximate equivalent of twelve month's remuneration) in respect of the discrimination.
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