It has long been believed that announcing your pregnancy at your workplace will end all opportunities for advancement, allowing some to see this temporary state as debilitating and unproductive.
When Louise Manning, 39, announced she was expecting she was warned that she would “never be the same again” and that the BMW company car she has had would be replaced with a “run-around”.
Her managing director, Nick Medlam, went on to send her a memo saying: “Feel betrayed . . . Tempted to dismiss and take the consequences.”
He then cancelled the training that she needed to join the board of directors, referring to her maternity leave as her period of confinement.
Louise, who left her $110,000-a-year job in October last year, was awarded close to $120,000 after a tribunal found that Nick sexually discriminated against her 24 times after learning about her pregnancy.
The company was ordered to pay Louise three fifths of the total damages award – $70,000 and Nick Medlam must pay the rest of the award – $46,000.
This looks good on this pompous gerk. I hope it teaches companies that they can think what they want about their expectant employees, but saying it aloud will cost them $$$.
The last thing a mom to be needs is to be berated while at work, especially when it is well documented that stress during pregnancy can cause premature labor or Cerebral Palsy in infants.
