Members: Mr Peter O’Hagan Mr Andrew McFarlane Mrs Amanda Tonner v Represented by: Mr S McCluskey Friend Conroy McInnes Solicitors — 2018

The claimant was employed as a legal secretary by the respondent partnership and was based at the Carntyne office. She became pregnant in 2016 and later went on maternity leave. The tribunal found that on 18 April 2017 the Carntyne litigation practice transferred to Fiona McKinnon trading as McKinnon & Co, while the Shawlands conveyancing practice transferred to Conroy McInnes Limited. It held that the claimant had been permanently based at Carntyne and would have transferred with that part of the undertaking under TUPE.

The tribunal found that the claimant's employment did not end when the partnership dissolved on 17 April 2017. It held that, at most, she had been told in March 2017 that her position was at risk, and that the first effective communication that her employment had ended was the letter of 2 June 2017. By that date the tribunal held that her employment had already transferred to McKinnon & Co, so the claims had been brought against the wrong respondent.

On the merits, the tribunal accepted that Ms McKinnon offered the claimant the full-time secretarial post first and understood from the claimant's reply that she was not interested in taking it. It found no evidence that the termination decision was because the claimant was on maternity leave or because of her son's disability. The tribunal also held that Regulation 10 of the maternity regulations was complied with because the claimant was given priority for the vacancy. It therefore dismissed the unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, pregnancy/maternity discrimination and payment claims, and recorded that the redundancy payment complaint had been withdrawn. No remedy was awarded against the respondent.