Maria

Maria worked as a Project Manager for a Law Firm for 4 years. Around a year ago, Maria’s employer raised an issue in relation to Maria’s performance, specifically Maria’s English language skills and her Spanish accent. Maria’s employer informed her that they intend to place Maria on a Performance Improvement Plan or they would need to commence without prejudice conversation. One of the aspects of Maria’s PIP was that she needed to attend English language course, which her employer did not wish to fund. Maria could not understand why her employer did not raise any issues in relation to her English skills in her first three years of employment. Maria did not wish to pay for her English courses and her employer provided her with a settlement agreement.

What did KLG do to help?

We advised Maria, that it appears to us that she would have potential claims for race discrimination and unfair dismissal, as her employer was trying to end her employment with the company by relying on Maria’s allegedly poor English language skills. We contacted Maria’s employer outlining our position and negotiated a generous package for Maria, taking into account current job market situation, and the fact that Maria had to return back to Spain if she was not able to find a job in the UK.