Posted: Friday, 4 January 2019 @ 13:43
The Guardian today gives a wide level of coverage to a soldier disciplined by the army after missing a parade to look after her daughter is set to receive damages after winning an employment tribunal claim.
Tilern DeBique, 28, said she was forced to leave her job because she was unable to organise childcare.
The former corporal, who was recruited on the Caribbean island of St Vincent, won a claim of sexual discrimination following a hearing at the central London employment tribunal yesterday.
DeBique was told she was expected to be available for duty at all times and that the army was "unsuitable for a single mother who couldn't sort out her childcare arrangements", the tribunal heard.
She was formally disciplined after failing to turn out on a parade in January 2007 so she could look after her daughter, the Daily Mail reported. A month earlier, she missed training after her daughter fell ill.
After leaving the army in 2008, she launched employment tribunal proceedings and won her claim for sexual discrimination.
She also won a claim of race discrimination, after arguing that immigration laws prevented her bringing a relative to the UK to help with childcare.
On the one hand this looks like a victory for the Claimant. She is claiming 15 years loss of earnings and looks likely to get a large pay-out.
On the other hand, reality will tell not such a glorious tale.
She had been prescibed anti-depressants before leaving the army.
Ms DeBique is currently unemployed.
She is not living in her own country.
She is living with a friend after falling behind on her £80 per week rent.
What kind of experience has this lady gone through to achieve justice?
Justin Patten, Employment Mediator