The Equality Authority has welcomed the significant award by the Equality Tribunal of €56,315 against MBNA in a case of pregnancy related discrimination. MBNA were found by the Equality Tribunal to have discriminated against and victimised Ms. Lane on the gender ground under the Employment Equality Acts. Ms. Lane was represented by the Equality Authority.
Ms. Lane started work with MBNA in October 2001. She was a model employee, with an excellent employment history. In both 2004 and 2005 she took maternity leave from her employment. Ms. Lane claimed that had it not been for her pregnancy and maternity leave absences she would have been promoted by MBNA and that her treatment in her employment deteriorated as a result of her pregnancy and maternity leave. Ms Lane’s allegations of discrimination included:
- MBNA’s delay in completing her performance appraisal and the related paperwork;
- The unfair, inaccurate and unreasonable appraisal which was eventually completed by her manager in May 2005;
- The deterioration in her working conditions which became apparent after pregnancy and maternity leave, particularly evident in the increasingly hostile attitudes of some members of management;
- The consistent failure to promote the claimant, as she reasonably expected in light of her performance history;
- The failure by management to address the claimant’s grievances; and
- The failure to pay pension contributions during the claimant’s maternity leave.
While on maternity leave, Ms. Lane expressed an interest in applying for a vacancy in the Compensation and Benefits section of the Personnel Department. The Equality Officer of the Equality Tribunal found that shortly before returning from maternity leave, Ms. Lane was discouraged from applying for this job which she considered herself suitable for against the job specification. The job was filled by a single person with no children who did not have the relevant qualifications and who had no experience in Personnel.
On her return to work Ms. Lane assumed she would return to her previous position as a Reporting Analyst in the Personnel Department. However, she was told to report to Payroll Section. She was given no desk and no phone for the first six weeks.
In March 2005 Ms. Lane was told by her manager, at a review meeting, that he was happy with her performance and she was given reassurances with regard to promotion. Later that month she advised her manager that she was pregnant. In April 2005 she had not been promoted despite two other promotions made in Personnel Department. She was told that her appraisal was being refused. In May 2005 Ms. Lane received her appraisal. This contained critical points which were inconsistent with her monthly reviews.
The Equality Officer found that Ms. Lane was discriminated against on the gender ground under the Employment Equality Acts. He awarded her €17,000 compensation for this discriminatory treatment
Ms. Lane also claimed that she had been victimised when she was offered an enhanced redundancy package if she signed an agreement to make no further claims against MBNA. While she was given a verbal assurance that this did not include her claim of discriminatory treatment, this was not put in writing and she did not sign the disclaimer. As a result she received a reduced redundancy package of €6,690.16 instead of €13,006.
The Equality Officer awarded Ms. Lane €6,315.84 (the difference between the basic and enhanced redundancy payments), and €33,000 in compensation for this victimisation.
In welcoming this finding, Niall Crowley, Chief Executive Officer of the Equality Authority stated “this case shows clearly that employees will be compensated, both for pregnancy related discrimination and for being penalised for attempting to assert their rights under equality legislation. Pregnancy related discrimination is a significant feature in our case files under the Employment Equality Acts. It continues to be an unacceptable barrier to women remaining in the workplace and progressing their careers. Victimisation of people taking cases under the equality legislation seeks to undermine the valuable protections that this legislation affords. We hope that the scale of this award will serve to dissuade employers from engaging in pregnancy related discrimination or in victimisation”.
ENDS