£5,000 for newly-hired mum fired after telling her female boss she was pregnant
A SOCIAL worker whose boss complained ‘we’ve only just put you on a contract’ on learning of her pregnancy has won £5,000 at an employment tribunal.
Poppy Hedges- Staines, 30, informed work she was pregnant at just eight weeks as she was concerned about visiting someone who had a suspected contagious disease.
She then received the ‘disappointing’ response from a female boss – who is also a mother.
Two months later, after Miss HedgesStaines was let go by the company, she sued for discrimination – and represented herself at the hearing because she could not afford a lawyer. She has now been awarded £5,134 – £4,500 plus interest for injury to feelings after the judge agreed the comment had been made by director Cheryl Finlayson.
‘It was really disappointing,’ said Miss Hedges- Staines, whose son Knox is now 17 months old. ‘I couldn’t believe that she said it – both as a woman and having children. She put a real dampener on my fantastic news.’
Miss Hedges- Staines, who cross-examined Miss Finlayson as part of the tribunal, started working as a self- employed social work assistant in November 2019 with Ipswich-based CF Social Work. The firm’s website states it ‘puts the needs of children, young people and their families and carers at the heart of everything we do’.
Miss Hedges-Staines was given a six-month fixed-term contract in July 2020 and in November 2020 rang work with concerns about a home visit where the father had suspected scabies.
Miss Finlayson, the tribunal heard, told her: ‘Poppy, we’ve only just put you on a contract and now you’re telling me you are pregnant.’ Miss Finlayson argued she could not have made the comment as Miss Hedges-Staines hadn’t ‘just’ been given a contract. But the tribunal concluded she had complained about the contract, although it did not find or accept that the second part of the statement, regarding news of the pregnancy, had been made.
In December 2020, Miss Hedges- Staines was given a reduced workload due to the pandemic and was occasionally unable to work due to antenatal care and fatigue.
The next month, she was told local authorities wanted staff who could work 48-hour shifts and do ‘sleep-ins’, which she was unable to do.
CF Social Work concluded there was no suitable work available for her. Her contract was not renewed and she was given four weeks’ notice, with pay. Miss Hedges-Staines claimed she was fired due to her pregnancy, although the tribunal noted two other staff on sixmonth contracts also lost their jobs. It dismissed the pregnancy discrimination claim but upheld a claim for unfair treatment.
‘The thought process behind the words that we have found were used was frustration that a recently appointed and valued member of staff might not be available to carry out the full range of her duties and would thereafter be taking a period of maternity leave,’ said employment judge Michael Ord at the hearing in Cambridge.
Miss Hedges- Staines, who lives in north Suffolk with electrician Patrick Summerfield, 33, is now a rehabilitation support worker.
Miss Finlayson quit in December 2020 but worked as a consultant. CF Social Work was approached for comment.