'Sexist & belittling' | Woman sacked after telling employer she was pregnant

HR professionals across the UK are reminded they need to tread carefully when dealing with maternity and pregnancy matters, after one company was sued for firing an employee as soon as she told them she was pregnant.

Essex-based security system supplier CIS Services hired Charlotte Leitch in May 2021 as an admin assistant and she had only been in the position for a few weeks when she decided to reveal her pregnancy to the Head of Compliance, Nicola Calder. Leitch was worried as she had experienced many miscarriages in the past.

The new employee had already raised concerns over her employment contract which remained unsigned, and Calder, upon hearing Leitch’s news, responded by telling her she was not entitled to any maternity leave as she hadn’t yet signed her contract.

Calder had told Leitch: “We have no obligation to keep you on,” and, according to Employment Judge Carol Porter, went on take “advantage of the situation and took steps to terminate [Miss Leitch’s] employment, giving [her] options as to the date when she would leave, and seeking, in the first instance, to make out that this was a mutual agreement.”