Mrs. F Jobson v London Borough of Hounslow — 2020

The claimant was engaged as an agency locum social worker and informed the respondent on 29 May 2020 that she was pregnant. The tribunal found that Ms Fache-Kabir told her she would be unlikely to be offered a permanent role if another candidate was available to work. That comment was because of the claimant's pregnancy and caused a detriment because she felt unable to apply for the permanent role.

The tribunal found that the claimant's agency engagement was terminated principally because of performance concerns, with cost pressures forming background context. Although there had been insufficient training and the respondent's reasons caused concern, the tribunal accepted that the decision-maker had genuine performance concerns and that pregnancy was not the reason for ending the assignment.

The tribunal rejected the remaining pregnancy discrimination allegations. It found that the move to duty work was made because of health and safety concerns about face-to-face contact, that any lack of training was general rather than because of pregnancy, and that the risk assessment process was not a detriment or was not shown to be because of pregnancy. The judgment stated that remedy would need to be listed separately.