Case 2404871/2019 · Employment Tribunal
Miss L Horsman v Mr Kurt Abbott and 1 other — 2020
- Case reference
- 2404871/2019
- Decision date
- 26 February 2020
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Sharkett
- Venue
- Manchester
- Panel members
- Mr G Pennie, Mr J Murdie
Parties
3 namedClaimant
Miss L Horsman
Respondents
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningAt Manchester on 17 February 2020, the tribunal rejected Miss L Horsman's complaint that UK Creative Media Limited failed to reasonably consider her request for flexible working or alternative employment before her return from maternity leave. The related detriment claim was dismissed, and the direct discrimination claim against Mr Kurt Abbott and UK Creative Media Limited arising from that allegation was also dismissed.
The tribunal upheld Miss Horsman's claim under section 47C of the Employment Rights Act 1996 that she suffered a detriment because the respondents failed to pay statutory maternity pay in time or in full. It also upheld her direct discrimination claim under section 18 of the Equality Act 2010 against both respondents.
Miss Horsman's claims for unlawful deduction of wages, payment in lieu of holiday accrued but not taken at termination, and breach of contract were dismissed after she withdrew them. The tribunal made a single award of £1,500 for injury to feelings; the accompanying interest notice stated that unpaid sums would carry interest at 8% after 14 days.
Claims and outcomes
7 findings recordedThis case has mixed outcomes under at least one legal claim type. A tribunal can uphold some allegations and dismiss others under the same legal head, so rows below may represent separate issues or allegation groups from the judgment.
| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pregnancy and maternity discrimination | Direct discrimination claim arising from the flexible-working allegation was dismissed. | Dismissed | Pregnancy and maternity | — |
| Flexible working | The tribunal found the second respondent did not fail to reasonably consider the claimant's request for flexible working or alternative employment before her return from maternity leave. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Other | Claim under section 47C of the Employment Rights Act 1996 for failure to pay statutory maternity pay in time or in full succeeded. | Upheld | — | — |
| Pregnancy and maternity discrimination | Direct discrimination claim under section 18 of the Equality Act 2010 succeeded; the tribunal awarded £1,500 for injury to feelings. | Upheld | Pregnancy and maternity | £1,500 |
| Unlawful deduction from wages | Dismissed upon withdrawal by the claimant. | Withdrawn | — | — |
| Holiday pay | Claim for payment in lieu of holiday accrued but not taken at the date of termination was dismissed upon withdrawal by the claimant. |
Remedy
Monetary award- Total award
- £1,500
- across all upheld claims
Legal tests applied
2 references- section 47C ERA 1996
- section 18 Equality Act 2010
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
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