Banker wins

Posted 22/11/2010

A female banker has been awarded £1.5 million in compensation after she was discriminated against by her employer for having a child.

Oksana Denysenko was a vice-president at Credit Suisse and took control of the Ukrainian market in 2005.

She became pregnant a few months later and took maternity leave in March 2006, but found the colleague covering her position was still there when she returned to work.

Although they shared the post for seven months, Ms Denysenko was eventually told she was surplus to requirements and was let go.

The victim took legal action against Credit Suisse, claiming she had been unfairly discriminated against when she had a child.

After she won her case in August 2010, Ms Denysenko has now been awarded £1,541,910 for loss of earnings, loss of future earnings, unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.

According to Directgov, it is illegal for an employer to sack a person for taking parental leave and any employment contracts will continue during the period of absence.