Thackray Williams

Tilern DeBique 28, from Tooting, South London, won a sexual and racial discrimination case against the MoD after being told that the army was "unsuitable for a single mother who couldn't sort out her childcare arrangements".

Sex Discrimination

Until 1995 members of the armed forces were not protected by sex discrimination legislation. The position has now been amended to cover members of the armed forces in the same way as everyone else, subject to an exception where the discrimination is to ensure combat effectiveness.
Direct discrimination occurs where a woman or a man is less favourably treated than a person of the opposite sex in comparable circumstances because of their sex. In this case the Tribunal Chairman, Mr Gordon said that Ms DeBique had not been treated "on a level playing field" with the other soldiers and consequently upheld her complaint of sex discrimination.

The MoD contended that Ms DeBique was responsible for organising her own childcare arrangements however, the Tribunal criticised the army for not helping her to make these arrangements.

Race Discrimination

This case was described as an unusual situation, because Ms DeBique was a Foreign and Commonwealth soldier serving in the British army, as well as being a single mother. Ms DeBique’s daughter was initially cared for by her family living in the Caribbean, however when she brought her daughter over to live in the UK she struggled to put in place suitable childcare arrangements. Ms DeBique consequently requested that her sister be granted access to the UK to assist her with her childcare commitments, however was advised that immigration rules would not allow this. This left Ms DeBique in the difficult position of balancing her job and child care commitments and when her daughter was ill, resulting in her being late for parade, she was subject to disciplinary proceedings.

Mr Gordon, the Tribunal Chairman described the immigration rules that stopped Ms DeBique’s sister from coming to the UK to assist with her childcare arrangements as “discriminatory.” He suggested that these rules negatively affect foreign and Commonwealth soldiers and he consequently upheld Ms DeBique’s claim for race discrimination.  

Compensation

Ms DeBique was claiming compensation from the MoD in excess of £1.1 million and this included £473,535 for loss of earnings, £325,160 loss of benefits, £315,562 for loss of pension, as well as £18,000 for injury to feelings and £10,000 aggravated damages.

Ms DeBique was awarded £17,016 by the Tribunal and was criticised for turning down an alternative role at her regiment’s base, where childcare facilities were available. 

What saved the MoD from having to make a significantly larger payout was their offer of a suitable alternate role. The message to employees, following the outcome of this case, must be a reminder of their duty to mitigate their losses when seeking to bring a claim against their employer. Failure to do this will inevitably result in a reduction to the sum awarded.

For more information contact Emma Thompson on 0208 290 0440 or email: emma.thompson@thackraywilliams.com