According to British reports, a new mom in the UK will receive up to $ 12,000 in damages – for not being invited to Christmas parties while on maternity leave.
Catriona Howie won an employment lawsuit against her employer, Croydon kitchen design company Holloways Of Ludlow, for “harm to feelings” about the invitation, according to the Times of London.
Company director Sarah Nelson had told the hearing that the company hadn’t thrown a proper Christmas party in 2018 because it was struggling financially, and instead just put $ 275 behind the bar at a local pub.
Nelson accepted that Howie had not been invited and insisted it was because “it wasn’t a real party and it wasn’t a normal year,” the British newspaper said.
Judge Corinna Ferguson accepted that “there was no deliberate decision” to exclude Howie – but ruled that the reason she was not invited was “no one was thinking about her.”
If she had been working around this time, she would certainly have been invited. She was overlooked for being on maternity leave, ‘the judge told the South London Tribunal.
The company also allegedly discriminated against Howie by hiding his financial troubles as she had no idea she would be fired anytime soon after returning from leave.
The judge said compensation of up to $ 12,000 would be a “likely” reward for “injury to feelings.” The company was also ordered to compensate her for $ 1,400 in unpaid wages and vacation pay.
Howie had also claimed compensation for a co-worker who mocked her for naming her baby Presley after Elvis Presley, but that claim was denied, the report said.