LRD guides and handbook May 2013

Law at Work 2013

Chapter 6

IVF

Women dismissed for undergoing IVF treatment whose ova have been fertilised but not yet implanted cannot rely on the laws against pregnancy or maternity discrimination. Although the dismissal of a woman for undergoing IVF treatment is likely to be sex discrimination, until the ova has been implanted it is unlikely to be pregnancy or maternity discrimination (Mayr v Bäckerei und Konditorei Gerhard Flöckner (C-506/06), Sahota v The Home Office and Pipkin (UKEAT/0342/09)).