Catherine McClennan recently took her former employer – the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – to court over maternity discrimination after being “forced out” of her job.
The mum-of-three, from Ainsdale in Merseyside, won compensation for her claim that the TUC took professional responsibilities away from her following the birth of her third child, once she returned to work following maternity leave.
Ms McClennan said: “The TUC needs to start practising what it preaches.
“The TUC should be an exemplar employer, but that couldn’t be further from the truth in my case.”
The TUC represents 54 British trade unions, and part of its work involves campaigning for better workplace rights.
However, the organisation denied it had discriminated against Ms McClennan, who started her employment with the TUC in 2006 as a senior manager in the learning and skills section.
A TUC spokesman said: “We vigorously contested this case, but the tribunal has made an award for injury to feelings even though there was no malicious or conscious attempt to discriminate by the TUC.”
Ms McClennan claims many of her responsibilities had been given away to colleagues by the time she returned to work in January 2013 and that her position was made obsolete at a later date.
She then had to compete against two of her colleagues for another position at the TUC.
Unite, the trade union, supported Ms McClennan in pursuing her claim against the TUC, which led to a five-day hearing at Liverpool Civil and Family Court.
Ms McClennan’s case – that her employer’s actions were prompted by discrimination – was upheld by the court, with her former employer being ordered to pay compensation.