'No jobs for you' | M&S employee sacked after revealing pregnancy wins tribunal

A Marks & Spencer (M&S) worker has won claims of automatic unfair dismissal and pregnancy discrimination after a tribunal found she was dismissed immediately after telling her manager she was pregnant.

Mrs Nilgun Kayahan Kolan, who worked in the bakery section at the retailer’s Watford branch, was employed for only a short time before her dismissal in October 2023.

An employment tribunal found that M&S had unfairly dismissed her, contrary to section 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and directly discriminated against her under section 18 of the Equality Act 2010.

Employment Judge Bloch KC, chairing the tribunal, concluded: "The dismissal was in fact caused by the disclosure of pregnancy and that that was the reason, or the principal reason, for her dismissal."