Woman sacked for falling pregnant while on maternity leave

A 37-year-old mum has won a five-figure payout from her employer after she was sacked for becoming pregnant whilst on maternity leave.

Jacky Scott, who was an office manager for timber merchants Cox Long in Staffordshire, was on a year's maternity leave after having her son Jacob when she discovered she was pregnant again.

She wrote to her bosses saying whilst she intended to return from her original maternity leave as planned on November 1, she would then be taking another year's leave from March 22, 2010. She was told a fortnight after that her position was potentially redundant, and was then dismissed on November 2nd.

An employment tribunal panel found in her favour and awarded her an undisclosed five-figure sum after concluding her dismissal was 'prompted by her notification in late September 2009 that she was pregnant and would be taking a further year's maternity leave, adding 'the firm unlawfully discriminated against Mrs Scott on the ground of her sex.'

Mrs Scott's case was backed by an East Staffordshire equality council whose director, Amir Kabal, said of the ruling: 'Let this be a warning to other employers; you ignore the employment laws at your cost. It always pays to have clear policies and procedures that are consistently applied to all employees.'

Cox Long declined to comment after judgment was passed.