“WORKING MUMS” AWARDED £16,000 FOR SEX DISCRIMINATION.

04 September 2018

Essex-based Dental nurses, Billie-Jo Janes and Jessica Rowley have recently been awarded a total of £16,000 for unfair redundancy, due to their inability to work full-time, as working mothers.

In July 2017, the two women were informed of their redundancy, with the explanation that their employer had no need for part-time workers, and as working mums they could not adhere to the dental practices demands. 

Both Miss Janes and Miss Rowley contacted their union, Unite, working together to bring the surgery to an Employment Tribunal, after being offered insufficient compensation from the surgery.

The employer was taken to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal regarding gender discrimination, where Judge Foxwell ruled that the dental practice was guilty of “unlawful indirect sex discrimination”.

The Employment Tribunal awarded a pay-out each of £6,000 plus £498 interest for “injury to feelings for unlawful indirect sex discrimination”, with added payments for statutory rights and loss earnings, resulting in a total of £7,500 awarded to Miss Jane, 26 and £8,159 awarded to Miss Rowley, 29.

After the ruling, Miss Rowley, who has now found a position at another dental surgery, stated:

“It was shocking to get anywhere near money like that, but it just shows how wrong it was.

It is a female dominated job but our argument was he made us redundant because we couldn’t do full time hours.

We both need to work part-time hours, we both have young children. The owner didn’t want any part-time workers, especially working mums because they were an inconvenience to them.”

Miss Janes, who has also found a new dental nurse position, described the award as “life-changing”, and intends to save the majority of the money, whilst also treating her daughter to a holiday. 

The Dental Practice’s Manager, Jeanette Warner admitted that the legal action was a surprising “bolt out of the blue”, as she believed their departure was “amicable”, however she did acknowledge their wrong-doings, stating:

“We made a mistake of not having a meeting with them beforehand to say they might be made redundant. It’s an expensive mistake”

However, she did not agree with the judge’s ruling in relation to the sex discrimination claim:

“We don’t know how that came about 99% of our staff are female”.

“They both appealed against it and we said there is absolutely nothing we can do”.

Here at Three Graces Legal we can help anyone who has experienced sex discrimination in the workplace.

Please contact us on 0151 659 1070 to see how we may be of assistance.