Saying expectant mother is ‘emotional’ is discrimination

DESCRIBING an expectant mother as “emotional” at work is discrimination, a tribunal has ruled.

Bosses risk stereotyping pregnant employees with “dismissive and belittling” language that suggests they are not fully in control of themselves, an employment judge said.

The ruling came in the case of a female account manager whose manager said she was being “very emotional and tearful” and who was portrayed as “hormonal” when she raised concerns about her workload.

Nicola Hinds, 37, was ignored by her boss and was so badly treated after she returned to work following the birth of her child she resigned.

However, she is now in line to receive compensation after a judge upheld her claims of pregnancy discrimination and constructive dismissal following a hearing in which she represented herself against the FTSE 250 giant Mitie.

Employment judge Roger Tynan said Ms Hinds’s male boss had stereotyped her as “an emotional, hormonal pregnant woman and that in the particular circumstances his description of her as emotional and tearful was dismissive and belittling”.

“The inference was that she was not fully in control of her emotions because of the pregnancy and that she was making unreasonable demands as a result,” he said.

The hearing in Cambridge heard Ms Hinds worked for facilities management company Mitie – which provides services such as security – and was its regional manager for its account with Sainsbury’s supermarket.

A female manager described her in February 2020 as “extremely dedicated”, always striving to deliver the best possible customer service to her client and as having “tremendous potential”, the tribunal heard.

In April that year Ms Hinds became pregnant and informed bosses, with whom she was said to have had a good relationship akin to a friendship.

In October, however, she said she was “really struggling” with her workload after suffering two panic attacks in a week. The tribunal found bosses handled the complaint “ineptly”.

Nav Kalley, her male manager, did not respond to her personally at all, and his immediate response was captured in a “short, unsympathetic and insensitive” email to a fellow colleague.

“I was expecting this email as Nicola has become very emotional and tearful especially over the last week or so,” he wrote.

Ms Hinds will be awarded compensation at a later date.