A female client, working in retail, came to the centre for employment law advice. She was being referred to a disciplinary by her manager. The manager alleged that the client had not followed company refund procedure. Yet, the client believed that the real reason she was being disciplined was because she was due to go on maternity leave.

It was alleged that the client had authorised a customer return for an item which is not sold by the store. The customer had bought two items and later returned two items, one of which was alleged not to belong to the store. The alleged price difference in the items is £4. She was accused of failing to follow the company refund policy.

Under further investigation it emerged that no policy or procedures were ever provided. In fact, the client’s work record showed that she was often rewarded for preventing fraudulent activity by customers. Referring the client to the disciplinary process a week before she was due to go on maternity leave caused client to suffer anxiety. And she was worried about losing the baby.

We represented client in her disciplinary hearing and defended her. The result was that no action was taken against her.