Woman settles maternity discrimination case for £215k

Woman settles maternity discrimination case for £215k

2 April 2025

A DOWNPATRICK woman has been speaking about her “devastation” at losing out on a job while on maternity leave, after settling a sex and disability discrimination case with a global bank.

Maeve Bradley has received £215,000 from Citibank, after a colleague who was covering her position in Belfast received a promotion, while she was offered an alternative role.

The settlement – details of which were released last week – involved no admission of liability from Citibank, who said it was “disappointed” it had been unable to retain Ms Bradley as an employee.

The 38 year-old had worked in the financial sector for 13 years when 

she started work as an assistant vice president of derivatives at Citibank in March 2021.

“I really enjoyed managing the people that I worked with,” she said.

“I was very comfortable in my role. I worked hard in my role and made myself where I wanted to be in my career.

“It’s definitely a complex department to work in, but every day was different, every day something was enjoyable. Guiding the team through that process was something I thoroughly enjoyed.”

In the spring of 2023, Ms Bradley went on maternity leave and believed she was in line for a promotion on her return.

She originally planned to be off work for a year and ahead of her return she contacted her manager to inform them she had applied for reduced hours due to her childcare needs.

However, she was told that the person on maternity cover for her had received a promotion and was instead offered a different position that she had no experience of working in.

Ms Bradley said her feeling upon hearing this news was “devastation” and she “made a point to say that I didn’t think this was legal to the manager directly”.

She continued:  “They said it was [legal] and I asked again did they want to get that checked out. He said again that it was correct.

“At that point, I ended the conversation and raised a grievance.”

Ms Bradley’s grievance was not upheld and an appeal was initially declined. She then reached out to the Equality Commission, which supported her in launching a second appeal.

Ms Bradley said she found communication with Citibank “extremely distressing” throughout the process.

“The whole process, and the way it was handled, was extremely stressful and extremely disheartening,” she continued.

“It’s sad we have come to this, it was never a process that I ever wanted to do. All I did was have a baby and I wanted to go back to employment. It was never a channel that I expected to go down.”

“I’m very relieved for the support that I’ve had and that I have managed to settle where we are. And I’m very relieved for everything the Equality Commission has done.

“But I’m also still very much going through the process of the damage that did take place during the time of this case.”

Ms Bradley explained her reasons for pursuing the case.

“For me, this experience has been incredibly stressful and disheartening. It came as quite a shock that the individual hired to cover my role was promoted in my absence.

“I felt compelled to challenge this decision, not just for myself, but to ensure that no other woman is penalised for taking time off to have a child.”

A Citi spokesperson said the bank was keen to retain Ms Bradley as an employee and is disappointed that it was unable to reach an agreement on her return to work.

“We appreciate the engagement of Ms Bradley and the Equality Commission in resolving this matter. At Citi, we strive to foster an inclusive workplace,” the spokesperson continued.

“Ensuring that our standards are well understood and complied with by everyone at Citi is a continuous, proactive process.”