Man axed by firm scared of sacking woman wins payout

In a rare instance of a man claiming sex discrimination, John de Belin successfully sued one of Britain's biggest law firms for "depriving him of his livelihood".

A tribunal found that Eversheds chiefs only axed Mr de Belin as they did not dare fire fellow associate Angela Reinholz while she was on maternity leave.

Mr de Belin, 45, and Mrs Reinholz, 40, were each facing redundancy from Eversheds' property division in Leeds.To decide which one to sack, the firm undertook an assessment of the pair's respective financial performance and awarded them points.

Ms Reinholz was given the maximum possible score – even though she was at home on maternity leave.

It meant she outscored Mr de Belin by 27.5 to 27 points and kept her job while he lost his in February last year.

Eversheds claimed that it had to inflate Mrs Reinholz's score for the payments – or risk a sex discrimination claim by her.

It claimed that the Sex Discrimination Act was intended to provide "high-level protection for women on maternity leave and that it did this in part by insulating employers from compensation claims by men".

But a Leeds Employment Tribunal rejected the law firm's interpretation of the law.

And it ruled that Eversheds was guilty of sex discrimination against Mr de Belin and unfairly dismissing him.

Mr de Belin, of Leeds, had 14 years' service with Eversheds and was earning 50,000 a year.

The panel last week awarded him 123,300, including 117,550 for loss of earnings and 5,500 for injury to feelings.

The case highlights the difficult decisions firms face when

implementing redundancy programmes.

Mr de Belin was on holiday in September 2008 when he first learned that his job was at risk.

It was Eversheds' national policy to give full marks to women on maternity leave, but the panel ruled that Eversheds should have ensured its rules were fair.

The firm has indicated it may appeal.