Allen & Overy has seen off a sex discrimination claim from a former Paris senior associate, but has still been ordered to pay out €65,000 (£50,000) by the Paris bar.

The magic circle firm was judged not to have discriminated against former senior associate Carine Benamouzig on the grounds of her gender or her status as a mother when it dismissed her shortly after she returned from maternity leave in 2013.

Benamouzig had worked at the firm's Paris office since 2003 and had claimed that her pay and bonuses had been unfairly held back when she was on maternity leave.