The AA rocked by sexism storm over pregnant staff
Former senior executive speaks out in gender bias furore
TWO women who held senior posts at the AA breakdown company are accusing the organisation of sexism after claiming they suffered discrimination when they became pregnant.
Lucy Burnford and Sally Matthews both spoke out against the AA this weekend in exclusive interviews with The Mail on Sunday.
It is not the first time the company has been in the spotlight over an alleged toxic atmosphere.
The AA’s former executive chairman, Bob Mackenzie, is suing the firm after being sacked for punching a colleague in a Surrey hotel.
He is claiming £225million in damages, claiming the brawl was caused by stress due to the AA’s ‘toxic’ boardroom culture. The AA is ‘vigorously contesting’ his claims.
The GMB union said it has handled more than 1,000 bullying complaints from AA employees since 2004 when the company was taken over by private equity firms, although not all relate to sexism or gender discrimination.
Burnford, 38, this month launched an employment tribunal case for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination after she was made redundant last July when she was seven months pregnant.
She had sold the company a 50 per cent stake in a car maintenance website called Motoriety, which she had founded. The AA agreed to bankroll the website until it broke even and she became an employee of the joint venture.
Burnford claims AA bosses became ‘hostile’ when she told them she was pregnant and alleges they subjected her to ‘intense boardroom bullying’.
Motoriety subsequently went into administration when the AA refused to loan funds to the business, wiping out Burnford’s six-figure investment. Her claim said: ‘The AA... did not think someone who was planning to take time away from the office to have a baby deserved to profit from growth in her employer.’
Burnford said: ‘My experience at the AA is not unique. There appears to be a longstanding culture where if you are no longer seen as valuable, you are disposed of.’
She is backed by Matthews, a former AA finance executive, who says she was treated unfairly after the birth of her first child.
Matthews left the AA six years ago, moving to Tesco and Unilever and then to her current job as finance chief at food delivery company Gousto. She said she wishes she had spoken out sooner but at the time thought it best to simply move to another job.
Matthews joined the AA in 2004 and was promoted rapidly. By her early 30s she was earning £80,000 plus bonus for running the finance team in its insurance and breakdown divisions. But she alleges she was demoted to a ‘much reduced role’ after returning from maternity leave in 2010. She took legal advice and launched internal grievance proceedings, but says she found the process ‘hugely stressful’ and costly. Matthews says she dropped the claim to safeguard her health when she became pregnant again.
‘I couldn’t fight because the AA seemed to be stringing it out to make it prohibitively expensive.’
She added: ‘There were a lot more men than women in senior positions. The culture was oldschool and definitely sexist. I can see it still perpetuates.’
A spokesman for the AA said: ‘The AA totally refutes any accusations of sexism. Full, fair and proper procedures were followed in line with company policy.’
The AA has recently been under fire over its male-dominated board. Lobby group The Investment Association wrote to the company this month warning it could face an investor revolt as just two of its nine directors are female.