In a remarkable legal battle that sets a significant new precendent across Europe, a 9-year legal battle over a £200 loss in maternity pay has been settled in favour of the claimant.
In 1997 Michelle Alabaster was working for the Woolwich Building Society - now part of Barclays Bank - when she took maternity leave.
However, a £204.53 pay award to fellow employees was left out from her maternity leave calculation - a situation Michelle saw as breaking European sex discrimination law.
After chasing the claim through various courts, the case ended up in the European Court of Justice, where it finally ruled in her favour.
This irrevocably afftects English and European laws, which must now ensure that employees on leave have pay rises taken into consideration when calculating payments.
