An officer in the Royal Air Force has been awarded more than £16,000 for pregnancy discrimination.
When the officer told her superiors she was pregnant, she was ordered to return to the UK from the Falkland Islands immediately. At that time both she and her husband were based on the Falkland Islands. Her request to stay in her desk-based job in the Falkland Islands was refused. She then had to take leave so that she could return to the Falkland Islands to visit her husband. This meant she missed out on a performance review which delayed her promotion prospects.
An Employment Tribunal found she had suffered discrimination and the RAF had created “an intimidating, degrading, hostile or offensive environment for her.” The Employment Tribunal recommended that individual risk assessments should be carried out for pregnant officers and the RAF should consider adjusting roles to enable pregnant officers to remain in their posts. Pregnant officers commencing maternity leave should be given a performance appraisal so that maternity leave does not affect their promotion prospects.
If you have suffered problems because of pregnancy at work or because you have taken maternity leave, please contact Ashley Hunt, Vaishali Thakerar or Carrie-Ann Randall on 0116 212 1000 now or complete one of the on-line forms.
