Mrs L Harris-Pugh v Net Natives Ltd — 2026

The Tribunal dismissed the claimant's claim of automatic unfair dismissal. It upheld her claim that the respondent contravened the Equality Act 2010 in respect of pregnancy/maternity discrimination and ordered the respondent to pay total compensation of £21,780.72.

The award comprised financial loss of £9,402.62, an injury to feelings award of £10,000, and interest of £2,378.08. The financial loss was calculated from maternity pay and pension loss at the claimant's contractual rate for the first 11 weeks of maternity leave (£13,495.88) and at an alternative role's rate for the remainder (£8,996.11), less statutory maternity pay actually paid (£12,441.84), plus 18 days of accrued holiday paid at the alternative role's day rate (£2,486.70), giving a sub-total of £12,536.85. That sub-total was then reduced by 25% to reflect the chance the claimant would have turned down the alternative role and would have been dismissed in any event, even without the contravention of the Equality Act.

Interest was calculated as simple interest at 8% (£2.19 per day): £1,584.66 on the injury to feelings award (723 days from 14 February 2024, the date of discrimination, to 6 February 2026) and £793.42 on the financial losses (362 days from the midpoint of that period to 6 February 2026). The hearing was conducted by video at London South on 2-6 February 2026 before Employment Judge Corrigan sitting with Mr C Mardner and Mr P Adkins.