Employee’s Rights Under Illegal Contract

Hall v Woolston Hall Leisure Ltd (CA WLR 31 May)

An employee’s awareness that her employer was not deducting tax and not accounting to the Inland Revenue tainted her contract of employment with illegality. Nevertheless this did not deprive her of her rights under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 not to be discriminated against on the ground of her sex by dismissal in contravention of the Act, and she was entitled to recover compensation. The employee’s acquiescence in the illegality was in no way causally linked with her sex discrimination claim and it would seem deplorable if a person in this employee’s position was unable to enforce her statutory claim arising out of her wrongful dismissal on the ground of pregnancy. Public policy did not so require.