In the case of Prosser v Community Gateway Association Ltd, the Employment Tribunal decided that sending a pregnant woman home during the COVID-19 lockdown was not discrimination. This is potentially the first judgement which addresses the issue of pregnancy discrimination, against the backdrop of the pandemic. It should reassure employers who have decided to send pregnant staff home during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the genuine reasoning being to protect them, that their actions are justified.
Ms Prosser had a zero hours contract and believed she was being discriminated against after she was sent home for health and safety reasons, and wasn’t permitted to return to work for several months. She brought a claim against her employers arguing, amongst other things, that sending her home in March, not allowing her to return to work until August, and delaying payment to her amounted to direct pregnancy/maternity discrimination.
The tribunal rejected her complaints. It found that the sending Ms Prosser home because she was classed as vulnerable and delaying her return until appropriate COVID-secure measures had been put in place was not unfavourable treatment, and was based on the Government’s public health advice and regulations at the time, and that it was a positive step designed to protect her.
The delay in paying Ms Prosser for shifts she would otherwise have worked was, on the face of it, unfavourable treatment, but this was unrelated to her pregnancy. It was a simple mistake which the Association rectified.