Stewardess wins £40,000 sex discrimination payout from British Airways after ...

Stewardess wins £40,000 sex discrimination payout from British Airways after ...
Stewardess wins £40,000 sex discrimination payout from British Airways after ...

A senior British Airways stewardess has won almost £40,000 after the airline refused to let her work part time after she had a baby, claiming it would hurt staff morale.

Bosses denied Chloe Daly's application to reduce her hours by 25 per cent and to work on set days following the birth of her first child.

BA argued that agreeing to the move could mean extra work for her colleagues.

But an employment tribunal found the airline guilty of sex discrimination and awarded Mrs Daly £38,741,55 after concluding BA was 'resistant' to flexible working to accommodate childcare responsibilities.

British Airways refused to allow flight manager Chloe Daly, of Thundersley, Essex, to work part-time after her maternity leave

British Airways refused to allow flight manager Chloe Daly, of Thundersley, Essex, to work part-time after her maternity leave

Mrs Daly told the hearing that BA 'was overall very resistant to granting flexibility'.

She said that most cabin crew who took maternity leave either left immediately upon their return to work or soon afterwards.

The tribunal heard Mrs Daly had worked for the airline for almost 10 years and was based at London City Airport as an in-flight business manager for BA Cityflyer. 

The hearing was told there were five IBMs based there including her - three women and two men - and none had children.

On average, she was required to fly as cabin crew two days a week, although she sometimes flew more if they were short of crew, or less if IBMs were needed in the office.

Mrs Daly, from Thundersley, Essex, had refused flexible work requests as a manager

Mrs Daly, from Thundersley, Essex, had refused flexible work requests as a manager

Mrs Daly, from Thundersley, Essex, became pregnant in late 2016, and was due to go on maternity leave in August 2017.

After a certain point, she was grounded in accordance with the airline's policy and later permitted to work from home part of the time.

The tribunal in east London heard no evidence that these changes to her normal duties had a negative impact on her performance. BA did not employ extra staff cover until Mrs Daly started her maternity leave.

In July 2017, Mrs Daly's daughter was born six weeks early, and she went on maternity leave immediately. The baby had serious health problems and this was a stressful time for her and her husband.

The tribunal heard she was due to return from maternity leave in August 2018 and had tried to find childcare but 'affordable, alternative childcare arrangements would not have been available, if Mrs Daly worked the flexible shift pattern required by BA, full-time'.

Mrs Daly told the hearing that in her managerial role, she had herself turned down flexible working requests from other

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