Author: Keely Rushmore

Dr Eva Michalak has won £4.5 million in compensation after her bosses mounted a campaign against her when she fell pregnant.

An Employment Tribunal recently awarded the staggering sum of £4.5 million by way of compensation for unlawful sex and race discrimination (a figure which the tabloids have pointed out would be enough to pay 210 nurses for a year). This is thought to be the highest ever discrimination award made in the UK.

Polish born Dr Eva Michalak was employed by the Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust as a consultant.  She claimed that she took maternity leave and on her return raised concerns about payments made to colleagues in her absence (but not to her) which lead to a concerted campaign by the Trust (referred to in the proceedings as the “Get Eva” campaign) to end her employment.  As part of this campaign she claimed that she was subjected to a bogus disciplinary procedure and an unjustified and lengthy period of suspension from 2006 which culminated in her dismissal in 2008.  She said that her dismissal was the conclusion of an extensive process of sex and race discrimination related to the fact that she’d made a protected disclosure and amounted to disability discrimination. The Tribunal accepted her arguments and went so far as it say it was ‘positively outraged’ by her treatment by the Trust and senior employees within it.

It would be fair to say that the case is exceptional. As a result of her treatment by the Trust she developed a chronic and disabling post-traumatic stress disorder, together with depression and anxiety. The Tribunal were told how she was left unable to accomplish the simplest of tasks without oversight and supervision, leading to her husband having to give up work to care for her.  The Tribunal concluded that she would never work again.

Dr Michalak earned just short of £90,000 in her post.  The £4.5 million figure was based on numerous heads of loss, including £30,000 for injury to feelings, £50,000 for psychiatric injury, £170,000 for lost earnings to date, £941,000 for future loss of salary (taking her to retirement age), £666,000 for pension losses, £50,000 for medical treatment, £43,000 for past care and £31,000 for future care. The dismissal had taken place when the statutory grievance and dismissal procedures were in place and therefore the Tribunal had discretion to award a 50% uplift in respect of Trust’s failure to follow the statutory grievance procedure.  The Tribunal said that it would have had ‘no hesitation’ in ordering the full 50% uplift were it not for the amount this would translate to in monetary terms, and instead elected to apply a more modest 15% figure.  A significant portion of the £4.5 million (almost £2 million) was an uplift to take into account the fact that the compensation would for the most part be taxable.  The Tribunal concluded that the Trust and some named respondents were jointly and severally liable to pay the award.

This was certainly an exceptional case but serves as a reminder of the huge potential liabilities that can arise in discrimination cases and the need to ensure that staff receive and understand equal opportunities training.

For more information about Equal Opportunities training, click here.
To read more Unfair Dismissal related articles, click here.

If you would like more information or advice relating to a specific matter, please do not hesitate to contact Keely Rushmore on 01727 798017 or by email at keely.rushmore@salaw.com or any member of the Employment Team.

© SA LAW 2012
Every care is taken in the preparation of our articles. However, no responsibility can be accepted to any person who acts on the basis of information contained in them. You are recommended to obtain specific advice in respect of individual case.

Author: Alexis Asher

Nick Clegg has today outlined plans to introduce a reformed system of parental leave to be in place by 2015.

Following proposals by the previous Government, certain changes are already coming into force in April of this year, which mean that a father will be able to take up the balance of his partner’s maternity leave, in the event that the mother returns to work without having taken a full year of her maternity leave. The father will be able to take up to a maximum of six months.

The current Government do not believe these changes are going far enough, and want to introduce a new scheme of flexible shared parental leave by 2015. Consultation is to begin in the next month.

The proposals to be considered include amongst others, allowing fathers to take over a mother’s leave after six weeks so she can return to work early in her period of maternity leave, and allowing parents to choose when to take portions of their leave, rather than having to use it in one go.

The Government believe that the new scheme will introduce a more modern system which recognises that it is not always the mother who wants to stay at home following the birth of a child. Nick Clegg has also emphasised the importance of a father’s role in a child’s life, and believes it is unfair of the current system to deny men the opportunity of spending a lengthy period of time with their children.

However, critics are concerned that the proposals will cause chaos for companies, who will be confused as to their obligations. There is also the risk that the changes will impact upon the recruitment practices of companies, who may fear employing, not only women, but any person, who is likely to be starting a family. This could in turn increase the likelihood of litigation, resulting in claims of age discrimination. In the current economic climate, many believe the Government are taking a huge risk in tampering with an already complex area of employment legislation.

Should you require any specific advice on matters raised in this blog, please contact the Employment Team at SA Law on 01727 798000