Mother, 38, fights her own corner in court… and wins discrimination case against supermarket giant

A mother with no legal training has won £60,000 at a tribunal after taking on her employers at Morrisons single-handedly.

A judge found that Donna Patterson, 38, was discriminated against by the supermarket when she returned to work after maternity leave. 

Unable to afford legal fees of £300 an hour, the former food buyer challenged Morrisons’ lawyers herself and cross-examined eight former colleagues.

The married mother of two’s win has now seen her likened to Erin Brockovich, the Julia Roberts character in the Oscar-winning film of the same name.

A judge found that Donna Patterson, 38, was discriminated against by the supermarket when she returned to work after maternity leave

The movie tells the real-life story of a mother who, despite a lack of legal knowledge, won a case against a firm that was poisoning the water in her town.

Mrs Patterson has received messages of support since her David-versus-Goliath victory, adding: ‘Somebody wrote, ‘Oh she’s like Erin Brockovich.’

‘I can see how it comes across as that, but it makes me sound like a pioneer. I don’t want it.’ Her legal battle started in August 2020 when she took a year’s maternity leave from her part-time job as a food buyer at the Morrisons HQ in Bradford. 

The mother, from Wetherby, West Yorkshire, already had a son, Rory, now five, and then had another boy Lorcan, two.

But when she returned to her role last year, bosses assigned her to a different, full-time role.

Unable to afford legal fees of £300 an hour, the former food buyer challenged Morrisons’ lawyers herself and cross-examined eight former colleagues

With no extra pay and a newborn baby to look after, she struggled through the ‘horrendous’ new job and raised several unsuccessful grievances.

‘They had decided that the new full-time role I was in was perfectly suitable for me because I was very experienced, and I should be able to do it with my eyes shut,’ she said.

But the demand took its toll and she was signed off sick with stress. She later resigned on the grounds of constructive dismissal. Mrs Patterson initiated legal proceedings and spoke to a few solicitors, with one encouraging her to reach a settlement. 

The married mother of two’s win has now seen her likened to Erin Brockovich, pictured, the Julia Roberts character in the Oscar-winning film of the same name

With no extra pay and a newborn baby to look after, she struggled through the ‘horrendous’ new job and raised several unsuccessful grievances. A Morrisons store is pictured above

But she said: ‘I just fundamentally couldn’t accept that. It wasn’t ever about the money.

‘It was for Morrisons to say we did wrong… and we were sorry and we will do better.

‘I just want to see my children, but I also want to be mentally stimulated by going to work. I don’t understand why employers still find it so hard to accommodate those two things.’

Realising she couldn’t afford a lawyer, she represented herself – and won after a five-day hearing.

Recalling the moment, she said: ‘I just felt these tears streaming down my face.’

Morrisons said: ‘We don’t accept we acted in an unfair way and believe a number of the facts have been misrepresented. We are considering an appeal.’