You might have heard or read about the case of Nicola Hinds from Yorkshire, whose line managers labelled her “emotional” and “hormonal” during her pregnancy. She felt unsupported during her pregnancy, maternity leave and when she returned to work, so she resigned and made a claim for pregnancy discrimination and constructive dismissal.
She’s recently won her case at the Employment Tribunal and will receive compensation later.
In this article, you will find out what happened and what Nicola’s experience means to you.
What went wrong
Nicola was a senior manager at facilities management company, Mitie Group PLC, where she was on the operational side of the business for ten years.
In 2020, she became pregnant with her second child, 12 years after giving birth to her first.
Once she’d announced her pregnancy, she found that attitudes shifted towards her. Her line manager, Nav Kalley, made stereotypical comments, describing her in an email to a colleague as an “emotional and tearful” hormonal pregnant woman who should perhaps take unpaid leave.
She was working on a project that demanded more hours, but for which she had less experience. It was during the pandemic, and her workload became so huge that she didn’t know how to deal with it. She spoke to her line manager to arrange support, but nothing changed. In fact, she was encouraged to change to an admin role that would be “better suited to her changed circumstances”.
Nicola argues that her tearful feelings were not because she was pregnant, but because the work environment was different and she was an exhausted employee. It was “hurtful” to be told she felt this way only because of her pregnancy.
She felt she lost her voice and confidence and that her pregnancy was being used against her.
For a fortnight, she suffered panic attacks that affected her own health and wellbeing, and the baby even stopped growing. As a result, her consultant recommended she start maternity leave early.
While Nicola was on maternity leave, she felt ignored by her employer, said the ‘keep in touch days’ were “useless”, and felt nervous about going back.
On her return to work, she found there had been changes to her pay and terms & conditions. She felt like “a huge inconvenience”, not supported, and that her employer was trying their hardest to make her feel uncomfortable.
She took extra sick leave and then constructively resigned in 2021.
What happened next
Nicola found a mentor who gave her the confidence to take her claim to the Employment Tribunal.
She represented herself, but said: “It wasn’t an easy task by any means”, and that it was a very long process that had its ups and downs. At times she felt like “a little person against a mighty company”, the system was against her, and she felt like giving up.
Although she has now won her case, she says it’s “sad” and “bittersweet” so there’s “no fist-pumping or jumping in the air” because it took such a long time just to get an acknowledgement that what she suffered was not OK.
She also said that she “hit the depths from a mental health point of view” but got herself out of the “pit of despair” thanks to the support of her family and friends.
Nicola urges all employers to ask themselves whether they have the right policies in place and the right leaders in place. Policies must be put into practice.
In the BBC interview mentioned below, Nicola concludes: “We’re not just employees who are numbers on a payroll, we give our lives to our employers. All we ask in return is a bit of respect and empathy.”
Nicola’s employer refuses to comment on individual legal cases.
What this means to you
When you’re classed as an employee or worker (and even if you’re self-employed in some cases), you are protected under the Equality Act 2010, no matter how long you’ve worked for the same company.
You are protected from the time you announce your pregnancy until:
- Your maternity leave ends
OR - You return to work
OR - You leave your job
Your employer must not discriminate against you because of:
- Your pregnancy
- Any illness related to pregnancy, including related time off
- Maternity pay or leave you take, or plan to take
In these circumstances, they must not:
- Dismiss you or refuse to offer you a job
- Change your pay or other terms
- Force you to work while on maternity leave
- Stop you returning to work because you’re breastfeeding
If you do experience pregnancy discrimination, you could represent yourself at the Employment Tribunal like Nicola did. Or you could save yourself that stress by trusting experienced employment law solicitors to help you.
We deal with this kind of situation all the time, and have the expertise to make the experience much smoother and easier for you. It’s probably cheaper than you think, as the initial conversation is free, and in many situations your employer will have to cover our fees.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. Read our case studies and testimonials to find out what clients say about us:
Further information about being “Pregnant, emotional and hormonal”
You can hear an interview with Nicola on the BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour podcast, ref. m001y208. Listen from 2 to 16 minutes.
For more information, please see our related articles:
- Being pregnant: How to avoid discrimination at work
- Can I be made redundant during maternity leave?
- Pregnancy and maternity discrimination: Example cases
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