A mother with no legal training told how tears streamed down her face after she 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.
She said: "I just sat there and tears streamed down my face. Just from the sheer relief that it was worth it - worth all of the stress, all of the effort and worth everybody saying "why not just walk away and move on". It was a complete relief.
'I was conscious that what had happened was morally wrong but might not have broken the right legal criteria. Fortunately I had a really great judge and panel and because of the work I had put in it was quite clear that employment law had been broken.'
The groceries giant had wanted her to be a confectionary buyer, but when she became pregnant the role disappeared, with HR informing her there had been restructure.
When she returned after giving birth she was told she now had to work in 'core grocery', which as a parent carried an 'overwhelming' workload and saw her signed off with stress.
The tribunal heard Morrisons had planned to demote her when she was pregnant, which sent the judge 'ballistic'.
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...
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