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Answer by Anna Docherty

One of the rights of an employee when attending a Grievance meeting is the right to be accompanied. This is usually by a union representative or if the company is not unionized, then by a colleague. The employee can choose not to be accompanied and attend the meeting alone.
It sounds like your employer is insisting that you are accompanied. Unless it states somewhere in your employment contract/ Handbook that all employees have to be accompanied at Grievance Meetings, this is not a compulsory requirement and could be pointed out to your employer.
However if you do want to be accompanied, you could point out to your employer that all your colleagues might feel uncomfortable sitting in a meeting with you due to their similar jobs, and in order for a colleague to agree to attend with you, your manager would need to confirm that no detriment would be suffered by anyone undertaking the “companion” role.
The other alternative would be to see if your line manager would agree to someone else joining you – perhaps from another part of the college or even a friend from outside the Company. There is no legal obligation for your manager to agree to this, but it does seem a reasonable request.
On the wider issue of your experience since returning to work from maternity leave, it does not say in the question whether you have taken Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) or Additional Maternity Leave (AML). If you come back after OML, you are entitled to return to the same position as before you went away.
If you have had AML, you are entitled to a suitable alternative role and from the question it does not sound like you are being offered this. You have already rightly put in a Grievance. However, if the outcome of this is that you still are not offered a suitable role then you might have a sex discrimination claim against the Company and you would need to seek legal advice from a solicitor.
Lots of luck!

While every care has been taken in compiling this answer, WorkingMums cannot be held responsible for any errors or ommissions. This information is not intended to be a substitue for specific legal advice.

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