Religious discrimination case of a part-time worker settles for £5,000

Mrs K was a practising Roman Catholic and had worked part-time for Company U for seven years.

Following a management change, Mrs K alleged that she was bullied, undermined and marginalised by her new manager.  Mrs K's shifts were changed to predominantly night shifts and reduced without consultation or agreement.

Also, Mrs K was issued with a written warning for not attending work on St. Stephen's Day (Boxing Day) despite giving notice when she started her employment that she couldn't work this day, and had never been required to during the previous six years. Company U was aware it was a religious day for her.

Following this course of alleged conduct Mrs K resigned, claiming constructive dismissal.  

What did we do?

We were instructed after Mrs K resigned, and although we actively sought to resolve the matter at an early stage, we lodged Mrs K's claims of religious discrimination and constructive dismissal due to imminent time limits.

We nevertheless continued to pursue settlement on Mrs K's instructions, as she'd found new employment, and negotiated a £5,000 settlement, finalising terms a few months later.

How did it help?

As a result of our proactive approach to resolving disputes at an early stage, Mrs K avoided having to attend a hearing and was very happy with the settlement and agreed reference.

Who dealt with the case?

Karen Bristow is an associate of the Institute of Legal Executives and has experience working on purely litigated employment tribunal claims, and has worked for clients on a wide variety of claims, including unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, sex discrimination, race discrimination, disability discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, equal pay, unlawful deduction of wages, breach of contract, whistle-blowing claims and claims under the Working Time Regulations 1998.  Karen has also acted for a client in defending an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Karen said, "I worked on Mrs K's claim for six months and understood the sensitive nature of her complaint.  I strived to obtain the best possible settlement and terms for Mrs K, who was very happy with the result.  Throughout the process I advised her on the prospects of her claims succeeding, the law surrounding her claims, tactics, legal implications, process and procedure."

Client testimonial

"These past few months have been a nightmare one way or another, and I really did not know which way to turn.  I can only thank you very much for all your endeavours on my behalf, together with your advice and guidance.
 
"I could not have wished for better support and felt advice given was in my best interest.  A very trying time, I could not have got through this with out Karen Bristow's help.

"The service was brilliant. I couldn't fault it at all. Karen was extremely helpful, very responsive and her advice was always very good. Absolutely no problems at all." 

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