Female economist wins sex discrimination case against ONS

A woman who worked for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been awarded £19,000 after an employment tribunal in Cardiff found her former employer denied her a promotion based on her gender.

Olwen Renowden missed out on a promotion to a male candidate who was less experienced and was a victim of ‘favouritism’ towards male staff within the ONS.

Ms Renowden had worked at a ‘grade six’ level in organisations such as the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in London, and in February 2017, two positions of this standard were advertised in the ONS. In April 2017, she was rejected for both jobs with no explanation, and in June 2017 it was announced that both roles had been given to two men who had never worked at that level previously.

Both men had less than six years of experience when Ms Renowden, who began working for the ONS in 2016, had more than two decades of experiences working as an economist.

A third role was then created, which also was given to a man.

Employment Judge Wayne Beard ruled that ‘favouritism’ existed towards the male staff and the gender balance was ‘not properly understood’.

Sue Ferns, senior deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, supported Ms Renowden’s claim, saying:

“This case reveals a shocking lack of diversity among economists at ONS and what seems like the deliberate overlooking of a female candidate in favour of men.”

Following the ruling, Ms Renowden stated:

“I hope we can use this result to make a real difference given there are over 1400 economists in government, and our profession is too influential to only represent the few.”

The ONS released a statement that they value “the contributions of all its people” and “are considering the ruling in this case very carefully.”

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