A black teaching assistant has won £17,000 after she was banned from working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic while her white colleague was allowed to. Worried Abi Balogun told school bosses she had to "do what's right for my family" and stay at home as her young son was battling cancer and vulnerable.
When the infant school's deputy head Emmy Alcock ordered her to attend and threatened her with no pay, Ms Balogun questioned why a white, less-qualified assistant was given permission to work from home. But just an hour after the complaint, Ms Alcock terminated Ms Balogun's contract with Cubitt Town Infants' School in Isle of Dogs, London.
Now, special needs and disabilities assistant Ms Balogun has won £16,769 after she successfully sued the school for race discrimination and victimisation. An East London Employment Tribunal heard Ms Balogun, who is black British, is a single mother of two looking after a boy and girl, both school-aged.
