Compensation For Pregnant Dismissed Employee

A pregnant woman dismissed by her employer when she was seven weeks pregnant,has been awarded nearly £19,000 in compensation at a Glasgow Employment Tribunal.

Her employer,Premier Systems ( Scotland) Ltd, was ordered to pay £18,860 to former trainee sales administrator Karen Smith for unfair dismissal on the grounds of her sex. The payout included £8,000 for injury to her feelings.

She was dismissed,when she was seven weeks pregnant, the day after she had told her employers. The Sales manager advised her to see a docntor and then later dismissed her, claiming disatisfaction with her work. She later suffered pre-natal depression, high blood pressure and panic attacks.

Despite the claims of disatisfactory work, the tribunal ruled that the “inescapable inference was that the claimant was dismissed by reason of her pregnancy.”

An estimated 30,000 women each year are sacked or forced to resign because of pregnancy, whilst an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) study last year suggested that only 3% of women who experience this problem lodge a claim with an Employment Tribunal.

Source: WLN


 
 
Icon: back to news
 

Designed, Hosted and Maintained by Union Safety Services