Woman wins discrimination claim against fire authority

A woman has won a pay increase of more than £6,000 after her union, public services union UNISON, lodged a sex discrimination claim against her employer, Nottinghamshire Fire Authority.

Arlene Bull was seconded to a new post but was told by the Authority that she would not receive the advertised rate for the job as she was not a uniformed officer. This was despite her 20 years as a fire station administrator. UNISON argued that this was sex discrimination as most firefighters are men and most non-uniformed employees are women.

After UNISON applied to an employment tribunal, the employer agreed to pay Ms Bull at the advertised rate.