A shop assistant whose boss fired her in revenge for her forcing him to give her maternity pay has won almost £30,000 in damages. Louise Irvine reported boss Paras Vijay Patel to the taxman after he refused to pay her when she went off work to have a baby, an employment tribunal heard.
Then when she returned to work the 32-year-old mother of four was sacked after Mr Patel told her he could no longer afford to pay her. Miss Irvine sued her former employer, complaining she had been the victim of pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
Now, she has been awarded a total of £27,901.45 in compensation after the tribunal ruled Mr Patel fired her in an 'egregiously unlawful way' in 'retaliation' for forcing him to pay her during her maternity leave. The Reading tribunal heard Miss Irvine had worked as a shop assistant at grocery store VRP and Sons Limited in the village of Launton, on the outskirts of Bicester, Oxfordshire, for three years.
