Deaf mother awarded £36,000 after suing British Deaf Association for discrimination

A Deaf mother has been awarded more than £36,000 from the British Deaf Association (BDA), after the charity refused to reduce her hours in 2019 so she could care for her newborn daughter.

Lisanne Hedger, a project manager, asked the organisation to lower her work to two or three days a week following the birth of her baby, but ended up quitting in 2019 before suing for sex discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal.

According to the Daily Mail, Ms Hedger joined the charity in 2014 and informed bosses she was pregnant in 2017.

Before the end of her maternity leave in February 2019, she requested her hours be reduced to 16 hours over two days. A second request to 24 hours over three days was also refused by managers, who said her job was a 28 hours a week role.

Ruling in Ms Hedger’s favour, employment tribunal judge Patrick Quill said the mother had experienced “indirect sex discrimination” which caused “anxiety, sleeplessness and feelings of loss of self-worth”.

He said: “We are satisfied that the claimant was put at the particular disadvantage, and that arranging childcare which was affordable and practicable meant that she faced great difficulties in working four days per week.

“It is not necessarily the case that it would have been completely impossible for the claimant to work the four days but, as we say, it would have been very difficult for her.

“Taking into account the respondent’s purported justification, the respondent has not satisfied us that the outright refusal to consider anything other than 28 hours was proportionate.”

Ms Hedger was awarded £11,000 for injury to feelings; £16,903.32 for lost earnings; £775.38 for lost pension contributions; and £2,032 for a breach of flexible working rules under employment rights law; plus interest – in an overall sum totalling £36,730.61.

In a statement, the British Deaf Association said: “We take the findings of this tribunal, which dates back to 2018, very seriously. We will review and update our internal HR policies and procedures to ensure that BDA staff are informed of their employment rights and feel fully supported in finding a balance between their professional and personal lives.

“We would like to express our gratitude to Mrs Hedger for her hard work on the Deaf Heritage project and wish her well for the future.

“As the award is currently being reconsidered by the judge, we are unable to make further comment at this time.”

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.