Mum sacked for refusing to work weekends wins landmark appeal against NHS trust

A nurse who was sacked for refusing to work weekends because she had to take care of her children has won her tribunal appeal. 

The decision has been hailed as a landmark ruling because it has established the premise that employers should take into account how much more childcare responsibility women generally have. 

Gemma Dobson, 40, a community nurse at the North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, had her first child in 2008. 

She agreed with her employers that she would only work on Wednesdays and Thursdays so she had time to look after them. 

But in 2016, by which point she had two more children, the Trust asked her to work one weekend a month. 

She refused, saying she needed to be with her kids, two of which are disabled, and was dismissed. 

Ms Dobson took her case to an employment tribunal in Carlisle, Cumbria, alleging the Trust had been discriminatory to her based on her sex. 

But the panel threw the case out, arguing that her colleagues, eight women and one man, were willing to work weekends despite having children. 

Ms Dobson’s lawyers later argued her flexibility with working hours had only been compared to her small team instead of the community nurses across the whole trust. 

Now, this decision has been overturned by the president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), Mr Justice Choudhury. 

In his judgment, which was released on Tuesday, the senior judge said the Trust had failed to take into consideration the ‘childcare disparity’ between men and women. 

Ms Dobson’s solicitor, Doreen Reeves, said: ‘This landmark decision gives a clear warning – working mothers with caring responsibilities should not be penalised if they are not able to work flexibly to meet business needs or demands of a service.’

The mum, who said she is ‘delighted with the outcome of the appeal’, will have her case re-examined by the original employment tribunal. 

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘The trust notes the judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

‘The trust does not believe that it is appropriate to comment further at this stage given that the matter will return to the original employment tribunal.

‘It is important to note that the Employment Appeal Tribunal did not find in its judgment that Mrs Dobson was discriminated against or unfairly dismissed by the trust, which is why the matter will return to the original employment tribunal for further consideration.’

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