Case 2407832/2023 · Employment Tribunal

Miss E L Delpinto v Farmhouse Kitchen Huntleys Limited — 2023

Case reference: 2407832/2023
Decision date: 30 November 2023
Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Judge: Employment Judge Aspinall REPRESENTATION

Indexed: 23 May 2026

Parties

2 named

Claimant

Miss E L Delpinto

Respondent

Farmhouse Kitchen Huntleys Limited

Key findings

Tribunal's reasoning

At a video hearing in Liverpool on 30 November 2023, before Employment Judge Aspinall, the claimant appeared in person and the respondent did not attend. The tribunal upheld the claimant’s complaint of automatically unfair dismissal under section 99(3)(a), finding that she was dismissed while pregnant and immediately after requesting leave for maternity-related reasons.

The tribunal also upheld the maternity discrimination complaint. It found that during the protected period the claimant was denied a second pregnancy risk assessment, was required to continue lifting heavy items, was denied pay for ante-natal appointments and told to take annual leave instead, and was told that she would not be paid for any maternity-related absence after indicating an intention to take maternity leave.

The claim for unauthorised deduction from wages also succeeded. The tribunal found that three days’ wages properly payable on termination had been withheld and ordered payment of £250 for that claim. At this stage the tribunal ordered a total of £666.80, made up of a £416.80 basic award and the £250 wage deduction award, and said it would determine the compensatory award for unfair dismissal and any injury to feelings or other losses at a further hearing on 18 December 2023. The written notice also recorded the relevant decision day for interest purposes as 30 November 2023 and the calculation day as 1 December 2023.

Claims and outcomes

3 findings recorded

Claim type	Issue or finding	Outcome	Protected characteristic	Award
Unfair dismissal	Automatically unfair dismissal under section 99(3)(a); the tribunal found the claimant was dismissed while pregnant and immediately after requesting leave for maternity-related reasons. The compensatory award and any other losses were listed for a further hearing on 18 December 2023.	Upheld	—	£417
Pregnancy and maternity discrimination	The tribunal found unfavourable treatment during the protected period because of pregnancy and maternity-related matters, including denial of a second pregnancy risk assessment, being required to keep lifting heavy items, being denied pay for ante-natal appointments and told to use annual leave instead, and being told she would not be paid for maternity-related absence after indicating an intention to take maternity leave. Injury to feelings was to be determined at a later hearing.	Upheld	Pregnancy and maternity	—
Unlawful deduction from wages	The tribunal found that wages properly payable on termination were withheld. The judgment states three days' wages were withheld, and the order records payment of £250, although the text also refers to '4 days pay at £83.36 gross per day' which is arithmetically inconsistent.	Upheld	—	£250

Remedy

Monetary award

Total award: £667; across all upheld claims
Basic award: £417; statutory, unfair dismissal

Official outcome judgment PDF

Gov.uk primary record

The 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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