It is impermissible, under EC equality law, to compare a woman who will be unavailable for work due to pregnancy, to a man who would be similarly unavailable because of medical or other reasons, holds the European Court of Justice in Webb v EMO Air Cargo (UK) Ltd.
An employer who withdrew an offer of employment as a butcher to a woman when he learned that she was pregnant unlawfully discriminated, an Inverness industrial tribunal (Chair: F C C Carmichael) in Booth v Highland Venison Marketing Ltd finds.
In Dekker v Stichting Vormingscentrum voor Jonge Volwassenen (VJV-Centrum) Plus (8 November 1990), the European Court of Justice, in a historic decision, holds that refusal to employ a woman because she is pregnant or because of the costs associated with employing a pregnant woman is direct discrimination on grounds of sex contrary to the principle of equal treatment embodied in the EEC Equal Treatment Directive.
The European Court of Justice has ruled in Dekker v Stichting Vormingscentrum voor Jong Volwassenen (VJV-Centrum) Plus that it is a breach of the EEC "Equal Treatment" Directive for an employer to refuse to recruit a woman because she is pregnant, even if hiring her would have serious financial consequences for the employer.