A Northern Ireland employment tribunal has awarded a woman £45,000 after her employer pretended that she was only working part-time in order to avoid paying her statutory maternity pay.
Ms Quigley worked in a cafe in Londonderry owned by Mr McGrory. She initially worked between 40 and 45 hours a week, dropping to around 30 hours a week after she fell pregnant.
Despite this, when she inquired about statutory maternity pay, she was told by Mr McGrory that only 15 of her weekly hours had been put "through the books", so she didn't qualify for payments.
He subsequently insisted that Ms Quigley should lie to Social Security staff to cover up his action, which she refused to do.
During the tribunal hearing, Ms Quigley explained that she had had to use her own saving while she tried to secure statutory maternity pay, and that she had been unable to enjoy her initial time with her baby due to financial concerns. Evidence was also presented that she became ill during this period due to Mr McGrory's treatment of her.
The tribunal eventually awarded Ms Quigley £45,000 for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination, with the compensation for injured feelings being at the higher end of the scale.
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