An employee who won an equal pay and sex discrimination tribunal against a south Essex coach company has now been awarded more than £17,000 in compensation.
An employment tribunal has ordered Galloway European Coachlines Ltd to pay former employee Felicity Stewart a total of £17,208.70 following a remedies judgment.
The award includes £3,960.56 for an equal pay shortfall, plus interest, as well as compensation for lost earnings linked to direct sex discrimination and an injury to feelings award.
Ms Stewart worked for the Rochford-based coach operator from November 2022 until her resignation in September 2024.
In a judgment published in June, Employment Judge Hutchings found her equal pay complaint was "well founded" and concluded the company had directly discriminated against her because of her sex.
The tribunal heard Ms Stewart carried out office-based duties as well as driving and on-call work outside her contracted hours.
READ MORE:
The judge found she was paid £12.98 an hour for additional work, while male colleagues received higher rates of up to £19.30 and £18.80 an hour for broadly similar duties.
The tribunal concluded the company had failed to provide a genuine non-discriminatory explanation for the difference in pay.
Alongside the equal pay award, the remedies judgment granted Ms Stewart £9,412.92 for lost earnings, £2,000 for injury to feelings and interest payments on each element of the compensation.
However, her claims for indirect sex discrimination, unauthorised deductions from wages, sick pay and notice pay were dismissed.
Her constructive unfair dismissal claim was also rejected because she did not have the required two years of continuous service.
A spokeswoman for Galloway said: “The board are very disappointed the company was deemed to have breached equal pay and opportunities legislation which was never our intent.
“Professional HR advice was taken throughout the process, and at all times the board were advised the company was being fair and operating in accordance with the law.
“The tribunal found otherwise, we have apologised unreservedly to the employee concerned and immediately settled the award.
“We are proud of our balance of male and female employees, which extends to board representation, and have taken careful note from the tribunal how to improve our processes moving forward.”
Share