Ex employer being a nightmare

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

Hi all

Will keep this as succinct as possible.

Lost my job at end of May 20 mins after telling employer I was pregnant (I had worked there for 14 months). Got a load of BS excuses as to reason for dismissal such as there’d been a complaint about me, failing to meet targets, original purpose of the meeting was to sack me, alleged unauthorised absence... all untrue.
There was no disciplinary action/capability meetings either so although they breach their own policy, due to my length of service I’ve been advised they weren’t obliged to follow their own policy.

Went through early conciliation with ACAS and mediation was declined so I’m now in receipt of the tribunal certificate and have a month left to launch proceedings. ACAS are no longer in a position to assist.

I’ve submitted a DSAR but employer has missed deadline and what takes the biscuit is that the manager who fired me is overseeing the data request!! Plenty of motive and opportunity to tamper with data that proves I’ve done nothing wrong.

I’ve raised a complaint with the ICO but no response as of yet, Union and legal insurers are dragging their feet and I just feel really stuck.
I’d be arguing such a fine point at tribunal that I really need the requested data to help me decide whether to proceed with the tribunal process.

Any ideas how I proceed? Can’t afford £400 for a solicitor to write a warning letter and insurers won’t pay retrospectively if they deem my claim for cover to be successful.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

I should say that I would be taking employer to tribunal on grounds of pregnancy discrimination, I did send email a couple of minutes before telling manager

[stucknoue]

Write a "solicitors " letter yourself. Use a family members address

[prh47bridge]

Don't take stucknoue's advice. It is a criminal offence to pretend to be a solicitor. You can be fined up to £2,500.

[sneakypinky]

What do you want from them OP?

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

Ideally I’d like reimbursement of lost earnings @sneakypinky but seeing as they aren’t interested in mediating I want all the unadulterated info requested on the DSAR immediately that hasn’t had my boss’ grubby mitts on it so I can go through it all and work out whether to pursue tribunal proceedings- hearing is likely to be due after DC2 is born so if there’s something in there that will blow my case out of the water I’d rather find out now and work on getting on with my life.
It’s been incredibly difficult finding another job because I’m either told “there are no permanent roles” when I tell a recruiter I can only work up to x due date or when I go for interview and I haven’t said anything about pregnancy I don’t get the job and it’s blatantly obvious why so I need every penny I can reclaim of my lost earnings

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

*temporary roles, I would be delighted to be offered a permanent role to go back to!!

[daisychain01]

If you have the ACAS certificate number, I would lodge your case at Tribunal. There is no cost anymore, so at least you have one less thing to worry about. Spend some time to look at the Govt website for details of what information is needed to open the Claim. Get the registration 'in the bag' - you can always pull out later.

Contact ACAS or CAB for assistance to complete the above ET1 registration, they should be able to work it with you.

Did your employer pay you your contractual notice period (did you serve your notice?) and any accrued holiday pay?

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

Yes they did @daisychain01 although they were late, obtuse and petty with paying it, deducting my expenses float from net salary even though I submitted my last set of expenses on time and they conveniently lost my receipts, so got screwed for more tax for no good reason (still waiting on expenses payment). They also didn't put the deduction on my salary so what is written and what was paid are two very different amounts

[ivykaty44]

As an aside,Have you put in for statutory maternity pay?

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

I only qualify for maternity allowance in a few weeks... Doesn't even cover my half of the mortgage

[ivykaty44]

You may find when you put in for smp they want your employer to pay, I put in an application as mine wouldn’t pay (sacked me when ph for things I hadn’t done, worked there under 2 years) smp made my employer pay it....apparently they threatened him withgoing through his books or pay up maternity pay

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

Sorry to hear you had an awful time @ivykaty44 how did everything pan out in the end?

[ivykaty44]

i Got other work much more suitable when dd was 9 month old and ex employers business folded about 2 years later

I hope everything works out for you

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

Thank you. I’m glad you found something decent and that your delightful ex boss got a nice dose of karma. Stuff like this can really taint what should be a lovely time.

[Jeeperscreepers69]

Go to the top. Over heads and speak to someone.

[Pissedoffinsomniac]

Unfortunately top man in UK is ex-boss, his boss is based abroad and anything I've sent has not been acknowledged and passed onto some external HR person.
Just feel totally stuck