Compensation

Case 17: The facts

After Miss Gilbank told her manager, Ms Miles, that she was pregnant, she was subjected to a campaign of bullying and harassment. A tribunal awarded compensation, including £25,000 for injury to feelings, against both Miles and the company. Miles, who claimed that the company had been wound up, said she should not be held personally liable and appealed the size of the award.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a compensatory award for discrimination can be made against an individual, adding that Miles was the person who "made the company tick" (see Workplace Report, December 2005).

The ruling

The Court of Appeal confirmed the EAT's ruling. As Miles had knowingly fostered and encouraged the bullying and discrimination, which was targeted and deliberate, it found her as well as the company to be liable.

The court also upheld the EAT's finding that £25,000 for injury to Gilbank's feelings was not too high. Although this was considered the maximum award for injury to feelings in the 2002 case of Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, the EAT had noted that the figure had been devalued slightly by inflation.

Miles v Gilbank [2006] EWCA Civ 543 (EAT decision at EAT/0396/05)