Male employee wins sex discrimination claim!
By Gail Escolme, 20 May 2010 –
Well who would have thought! A male employee has won his claim that he was discriminated against because he was made redundant instead of his female colleague who was on maternity leave. The employer – a law firm (!) gave the female employees maximum score on one particular criteria as she was on maternity leave and therefore they could not give her an actual score!
This decision is good news for men – who have felt that they have been having a rough time of it in the workplace. There is definitely a consensus that the pendulum has swung a long way in favour of female employees and this will have done something to redress the balance – although it makes it even more difficult for well meaning employers to deal with redundancies without falling into the discrimination trap. No doubt some employers will be of the opinion that they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t! If in doubt – take advice!!