Nanny loses wrongful dismissal case against Heather Mills

THE former nanny of Heather Mills has lost her claim of sexual discrimination and constructive dismissal against her, her solicitor said.

Sara Trumble, 26, claimed Mills reduced her to tears with the demands she placed on her and forced her to work long hours with no extra pay

The nanny, who was paid £260 (€315) a week by Mills to look after her daughter Beatrice, now six, told an employment tribunal she felt she was a hard-working and loyal employee but in return her former boss took advantage of her.

Trumble, who began working for Mills in April 2004 when she was still married to Paul McCartney, said she handed in her notice in September 2008 after she was relegated to domestic duties after returning from maternity leave.

The three-day hearing at Ashford Employment Tribunal Centre in Kent, which began at the end of March, saw Trumble claim compensation for sex and maternity discrimination, plus constructive dismissal.

However tribunal judge Steven Vowles dismissed the claims in the judgment, which was reserved until yesterday.

During her own evidence Mills, who lost a leg when she was hit by a police motorcyclist in 1993, said she treated Trumble “like a daughter” and showered her with gifts during her employment, including a two-seater sports car.

Mills wept as she described how she met Trumble when she gave her beauty treatments at a health club near McCartney’s estate in Rye, East Sussex, and took her on as a nanny to help her better herself.

She said that if anything, she was too accommodating with Trumble when she took maternity leave to have her daughter Lily in 2007 and pointed out that Trumble asked her to become godmother to the child when she was born.

Mills claimed she and the young nanny were “very close” but their relationship turned sour when she refused to give her £4,000 for breast enlargement surgery in the spring of 2008.

She denied Trumble’s claims that she relegated her to carrying out household chores after she returned from maternity leave, and said she onlyarranged new childcare for Beatrice after she had handed in her notice.

A spokeswoman for Mills said she was “delighted” with the result.

She said in a statement: “Heather is delighted with the decision of the Employment Tribunal that has dismissed all of Sara Trumble’s claims.

“Heather was always a very fair and generous employer to Sara and is very pleased that this has been confirmed by Judge Vowles and the tribunal members unanimously in the judgment.”

Mills and McCartney’s divorce was finalised in 2008, when she was awarded a settlement of over £24 million (€28m).