Ms N Copeland v Limited (in Liquidation) and 1 other — 2025

The claimant was dismissed during her probationary period after informing her line manager that she was pregnant. She alleged that the respondents had subjected her to detriments, treated her unfavourably because of pregnancy or maternity-related matters, and dismissed her for pregnancy or maternity-related reasons. The respondent said the decision was based on probationary performance concerns.

The tribunal found that some aspects of the process were disadvantageous to the claimant, including that the probation meeting caught her off guard and that fuller reasons were not given at the meeting. However, it found these matters were not shown to be because of pregnancy or maternity leave, and where any provisional inference could arise, the respondents' evidence rebutted it.

The tribunal found the sole reason for dismissal was that the claimant had not performed well enough during probation, including concerns about timekeeping, communication, collaboration, team management, self-development and decision making. It concluded the detriment, pregnancy and maternity discrimination, and automatic unfair dismissal complaints were not supported by the evidence. The withdrawn breach of contract and wrongful dismissal complaint was dismissed following withdrawal, and no remedy was considered.