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Landmark Ruling In First Ever Adoption Leave Dismissal Case

A former employee of Enterprise Rent-A-Car (UK) Ltd has won her unfair dismissal case against the company – a dismissal which was deemed to have been issued following the employee’s expressed intention to take adoption leave.

According to Adoption UK, this is the first time in the UK that a court has granted a case of unfair dismissal which is directly related to adoption leave.

The judgment, which took six weeks, was declared by Nottingham Employment Tribunal on Wednesday 21 February 2007 and ruled that Enterprise Rent-A-Car (UK) Ltd’s (the respondent) reason for the dismissal was on account of Anna Coulombeau’s (the claimant) future adoption intentions and subsequent adoption leave.

The hearing also deemed that the claimant had been subjected to sex discrimination during her employment, on the grounds that she was dismissed for genuine and minor errors for which male comparators had merely, and at best, been reprimanded.

The case, which began in October 2005, highlighted: the “impact and dismissal had upon [Anna’s] adoption plans”; that the “Tribunal considers [there] to have been a serious injury to her feelings”; that there was “clear evidence of less favourable treatment from [the Tribunal’s] findings of women in comparison with men”, and that “Enterprise should take seriously on board the issues that have been addressed [in the judgment] and the shortcomings that have been found.”

This culminated in the dismissal of Anna Coulombeau, a graduate management level employee who was twice promoted during her 18-month career with the company and named ‘employee of the month’ just weeks before her unfair dismissal. 

“This case should give confidence to people who are nervous of exercising their rights to take time out from employment to begin their new lives with their adopted child,” comments Anna Coulombeau.

“I had the support of a committed legal team in Freeth Cartwright and financial support from my family and the support of my friends and colleagues, but many people will not have this. There is a climate of discriminatory treatment towards women at Enterprise Rent-A-Car (UK) Ltd, which extends to women being treated more harshly than men, and I am glad that this case has helped to expose this.”
 
Ms. Coulombeau was advised throughout the case by the employment law team of law firm Freeth Cartwright LLP, and barrister, Elizabeth Hodgetts, both of whom due to the unusual nature of the case, dealt with part of it on a pro bono basis.

Roscoe Fernandes, senior solicitor at Freeth Cartwright handled the case with deputy senior partner Richard Bullock. Mr. Fernandes said:

“When she first walked through the door I could see that Anna was a genuine and personable individual who had been treated very badly by the organisation.

“I was astonished that such a high profile company would defy its equal opportunities policy in such a flagrant manner, and I am extremely pleased that Anna can now put this unfortunate period behind her and get on with her successful pharmaceutical career.

”Anna had superb representation in the form of Elizabeth Hodgetts at the Tribunal.”

ends – 23 February 2007