Search
Close this search box.

Teacher wins harassment case after having to express milk in school toilets and car park

In the case of Ms T Mellor v The MFG Academies Trust Tara Mellor had been allowed to express milk in a special room at Mirfield Free Grammar School after her first child but was told this was ‘not an option’ due to Covid rules after her second baby. She repeatedly asked bosses for a room in which she could express milk to give her new-born daughter after work, an employment tribunal heard.

In the case of Ms T Mellor v The MFG Academies Trust Tara Mellor had been allowed to express milk in a special room at Mirfield Free Grammar School after her first child but was told this was ‘not an option’ due to Covid rules after her second baby. She repeatedly asked bosses for a room in which she could express milk to give her new-born daughter after work, an employment tribunal heard.

Instead, the mum was left with no other option than to either do it in the car park or the “often dirty” toilets during her 25-minute lunch break. Worried that students or anyone else walking past might see her in her car, she chose the toilets more often than not.

As making milk takes up to 20 minutes, Ms Mellor had little time for anything else during her break and was often forced to eat her lunch in the toilets, which she found “unhygienic” and “disgusting”.

She told an employment tribunal in Hull: “I found it unhygienic and disgusting to have to express in the toilets. Further, as I wasn’t allocated any time to express, I had to do it at lunch time and eat my lunch at the same time.

“I found it disgusting to have to eat my lunch in toilets, which were often dirty.”

Ms Mellor told the tribunal she believed the MFG Academies Trust had a “negative attitude” towards pregnancy and maternity. The Trust argued she “would have raised a grievance” with the company if she had had a “real issue with a place to express”.

However, it was ruled the school gave her “no choice” but to resort to the “humiliating” measures. Employment Judge Richard Mille said: “As the claimant reasonably and genuinely felt compelled to act in a way that she did not want to, she was we find forced to do so.

“We conclude, therefore, that the respondent did subject the claimant to unwanted conduct by forcing her to express milk in the toilet and/or car park.

“We find that the conduct of the respondent had the effect of creating a degrading and/or humiliating environment for the claimant.

Read more

Latest News

Read More

Rise in recruitment fraud must urgently be checked

28 March 2024

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

University of Warwick – WMGSalary: £23,144 to £25,138 per annum This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and

The Open University – People ServicesSalary: £57,696 to £64,914 + up to £8,000 per annum MRP supplement* This provides summary information and comment on the

Cardiff UniversitySalary: Competitive This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and appellate court cases are reported, the information

University of Oxford – Oxford Department of International DevelopmentSalary: £28,759 to £33,966 (Grade 5) This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered.

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE