This case relates to the dismissal of an employee while pregnant but before her maternity leave. The complainant was employed with the respondent from May 2010 to December 2010. She informed them she was pregnant in mid-November. After that, she asserts the respondent was ‘cool’. She was subsequently on sick leave for two weeks and on her return she found she was doing more filing, half of the client calls previously undertaken, and while on her reception duties two ladies arrived stating they were there for interview and looking for the respondent. When she called following her dismissal, a lady answered whose voice she did not recognise.
The Equality Officer looked at the line of CJEU authorities and found that “where a pregnant employee is dismissed the employer must bear the burden of proving that the dismissal was based on exceptional circumstances unrelated to the pregnancy or maternity.” He found that the complainant informed her employer of her pregnancy, that around four weeks later she was dismissed thereby shifting the burden of proof. As the respondent did not engage with the Tribunal and in light of the consequential lack of indication of exceptional circumstances, the complainant’s case was entitled to succeed.
Interestingly, the complainant’s original complaint was taken on the family status ground and not gender which was raised at the hearing. The Equality Officer found that the nature of the complaint had not changed as her pregnancy had always been at the centre of her complaint and that no prejudice arose for the respondent.
The complainant was awarded €20,000 compensation not in the nature of pay.
Why is this case of interest?
- Do you consider what exceptional circumstances, unrelated to the employee’s condition, are applying in situations where you are dismissing a pregnant employee (or an employee on maternity leave), bearing in mind that the entire period of pregnancy and maternity leave is a ‘protected period’?
A complainant using the incorrect ground at the outset may not invalidate the complaint.
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