RAF officer receives compensation for pregnancy-related discrimination

Posted 06/06/2010

An RAF officer has been awarded £16,000 in compensation after she was discriminated against in the workplace because of her pregnancy.

The officer, who cannot be named, told her superiors that she was expecting in July 2008, but was told shortly afterwards that a promotion which had been in the pipeline had been delayed.

She also missed out on a performance assessment and was eventually ordered to return to the UK from the Falklands where she had been serving because she was a “risk”.

The victim decided to launch legal action and has now been awarded compensation after a tribunal found she was not a risk and that she was subjected to “intimidating, degrading and hostile” treatment.

Legal experts believe the case will prove to be a landmark in governing how pregnant employees are treated in the armed forces.

According to the Fawcett Society, 30,000 women every year lose their jobs because they are pregnant.