A new mother in the UK is receiving up to $ 12,000 in damages – because according to British reports she was not invited to Christmas drinks while on maternity leave.
Catriona Howie has won a professional tribunal lawsuit against her employer, the Croydon kitchen design firm Holloways Of Ludlow, for an ‘injury to the feelings’, the Times of London said.
Operations Director Sarah Nelson said during the trial that the firm did not hold a proper Christmas party in 2018 because it was struggling financially, and rather put $ 275 behind the bar in a local bar.
“Nelson accepts that Howie was not invited, and insists that it is only because it was not a proper party and also not a normal year,” the British newspaper said.
Judge Corinna Ferguson accepted that ‘there was no deliberate decision’ to exclude Howie, but ruled that the reason she was not invited was that no one thought of her. ‘
‘If she had been at work around this time, she would certainly have been invited. She was overlooked because she was on maternity leave, “the judge told the tribunal in south London.
The company also ruled that Howie had discriminated by concealing his financial struggles, and that she had no idea that she would be redundant shortly after his return from leave.
The judge said compensation of up to $ 12,000 would be a ‘probable’ award for ‘feelings of harm’. The firm was also ordered to reimburse her for $ 1400 in unpaid wages and vacation pay.
Howie also demanded compensation for a colleague who mocked her for naming her baby Presley after Elvis Presley, but the claim was rejected, the report said.