Member K Pirie Tribunal Member D Massie Mrs S Putra v Represented by Ms V Mockus – Friend Mr O Eglitas - Interpreter De-Luxe Office Cleaners — 2019

The claimant, a Latvian cleaner employed from 7 May 2013, became pregnant in May 2018 and gave the respondents a MAT B form. She told her supervisor that she would be leaving on 28 September 2018. The tribunal found that the respondents assumed she was leaving permanently, processed a P45, and did not check her understanding or confirm whether she intended to return after maternity leave.

The tribunal unanimously found that the claimant was dismissed by the respondents and had not resigned. It held that the effective date of termination was 9 October 2018, when she was told on the telephone that the respondents were treating her as dismissed. The unfair dismissal claim succeeded, the claim for payment in lieu of notice succeeded, and the holiday pay claim succeeded for the period 28 September 2018 to 9 October 2018. The tribunal also said the claimant should have been given notice.

The section 18 Equality Act 2010 claim for pregnancy and maternity discrimination was dismissed. The tribunal accepted that the respondent business commonly dealt with maternity leave and that staff had returned after leave, and it found that this case arose from an initial misunderstanding and the respondents' failure to resolve it, not from discrimination because of pregnancy or maternity. The hearing was limited to liability, so no monetary award was fixed in this judgment.