Beatrice Young, a solicitor within our employment team, recently secured a settlement which was triple the initial sum offered by a major high street retail company. Our client had been on maternity leave when she was called into a “catch up” meeting. Whilst our client had thought this was about her return to work following maternity leave, it turned out to be a without prejudice meeting, where she was informed that her role was being made redundant due to a company restructure. Our client was told that another employee had already secured the suitable alternative role available, and thus there was no position for her at the company. Beatrice advised the client on her potential claims for unfair dismissal and maternity discrimination in relation to the redundancy situation, in which it was clear there was to be no formal consultation and our client faced a fait accompli. Following advice on the terms of the agreement and legal position, Beatrice pushed back on the company’s offer and the matter ended up settling for three times the initial sum proposed.
