Sex discrimination: Maternity leave counts towards qualifying period for performance assessment
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Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Vieillesse des Travailleurs Salariés (CNAVTS) v Thibault [1998] IRLR 399 ECJ (0 other reports)
A woman who was deprived of the right to an annual performance assessment - and, consequently, of the possibility of qualifying for promotion - because she was on maternity leave was discriminated against on grounds of sex within the meaning of the EC Equal Treatment Directive, holds the European Court of Justice in Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Vieillesse des Travailleurs Salariés v Thibault [1998] IRLR 399. If the woman had not been pregnant and had not taken maternity leave, her performance would have been assessed for the year in question and she could, therefore, have qualified for promotion in the following year.
Ms Thibault was recruited by the French national old-age insurance fund for employees ("CNAVTS") in 1973 and was promoted in 1983.
