Ms H Kim v TLR London Limited — 2024

The Tribunal held it had no jurisdiction to hear the claimant's automatic unfair dismissal claim because it was not presented within the prescribed time limits. The claimant's complaint of pregnancy discrimination was, however, well founded and succeeded, with the date of discrimination identified as the dismissal date of 24 February 2023.

On remedy, the Tribunal calculated financial loss by reference to the position the claimant would have been in absent the discrimination. It found she would have worked a further 15 weeks at a gross weekly salary of £576.92 (£8,653.80) before commencing maternity leave on 9 May 2023, and would then have received statutory maternity pay totalling £9,005.21 over 39 weeks, giving gross losses of £17,659.01. From this the Tribunal deducted £8,848.22 received in mitigation (freelance earnings of £2,121.50 and maternity allowance of £6,726.72), producing a net financial loss award of £8,810.79. The Tribunal declined to apply a 25% ACAS uplift under section 207A(2) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, finding, by reference to Holmes v Qinetiq Ltd, that the ACAS Code did not apply because the reasons given for dismissal related to redundancy rather than conduct or performance.

For injury to feelings, the Tribunal applied the Vento bands and placed the award in the lower band, accepting that the claimant had a high risk pregnancy and was in a vulnerable position seeking secure employment while pregnant and after childbirth, but noting limited further evidence of impact. It awarded £6,000 plus interest at 8% over 414 days (£544.44), giving a total injury to feelings sum of £6,544.44.