In H M Land Registry v McGlue, the EAT upheld the Employment Tribunal's decision that an employee on a career break who was excluded from the Land Registry's voluntary severance scheme had been indirectly discriminated against on the grounds of sex. The EAT has now also had to rule on the amount of Mrs McGlue's compensation.

Although she remained in her post at the Land Registry, Mrs McGlue gave unchallenged evidence in the Tribunal that if she had been accepted for the voluntary severance scheme, she would have taken the payment and then found equally well paid work elsewhere. The Tribunal awarded her £72,000 for economic loss, the amount she would have received under the voluntary severance scheme, as well as £12,000 for injury to feelings and £5,000 for aggravated damages.

The Land Registry appealed to the EAT, arguing that Mrs McGlue had not suffered any loss because she had not left her job. The EAT upheld the Employment Tribunal's decision. Mrs McGlue was entitled to be placed in the same situation as she would have been if the discrimination had not occurred. Accepting her evidence that she would have taken the severance payment and then obtained similar pay elsewhere, the EAT held that her loss was the full amount of the severance payment, with no deduction for her continued earnings. The EAT also ruled that there was no basis to award her aggravated damages.

This case shows that excluding an employee from a voluntary severance scheme for discriminatory reasons could prove very costly. Although such cases will turn on individual circumstances, it is important to note that even if an employee remains in the same job, compensation may not be limited to an injury for feelings award.

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