EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case no 8000473/2023 Held at Edinburgh on and February 2024 Employment Judge W A Meiklejohn Tribunal Member Mrs Z Van Zwanenberg Tribunal Member Mr S Cardownie Ms C Rumsey v ’s Grandfather We Care for Children Ltd — 2023

Ms C Rumsey worked for We Care for Children Ltd as a trainee nursery practitioner from 24 June 2022 while continuing an apprenticeship with Azilo Training. After she became pregnant in December 2022, the respondent knew of the pregnancy and there were later issues about scan and midwife appointments, sickness at work, and a performance improvement process linked to her coursework progress before maternity leave.

The tribunal dismissed the automatically unfair dismissal claim and the pregnancy discrimination claim. It found that the reason for dismissal on 18 July 2023 was the respondent's view that the claimant had not made sufficient progress with her coursework, not her pregnancy. On the specific discrimination allegations, the tribunal held that the limits placed on time off for the first appointments, the response to sickness, the request to rearrange a midwife appointment, and the failure to offer transport to hospital were not unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy on the facts found.

The tribunal upheld the pregnancy-related detriment claim under section 47C ERA 1996. It found detriment in the course of events leading to dismissal, including that the claimant was not told dismissal could be an outcome of the 18 July meeting, was not offered accompaniment, was unclear about the start date of maternity leave, and had not received statutory maternity pay when due. It treated the award as compensation for injury to feelings, applied the Vento bands by analogy, and fixed the award at £1,100 at the bottom of the lower band.