€80k for woman sacked after taking maternity leave

Two women who were sacked by their employers after they became pregnant have been awarded a total of €88,000 in compensation by the Equality Tribunal.

Lisa Mullen, a financial controller demoted to debt collector and later constructively dismissed after taking maternity leave, was awarded a total of €80,000 for harassment and “a range of unlawful treatment” by BCon Communications.

Ms Mullen said that when, in November 2009, she informed the firm’s owner of her pregnancy, he responded: “Jesus Lisa, you don’t hang around.”

As Ms Mullen was about to return to work, she was told the role of financial controller no longer existed.

She was offered a more junior position which involved eight hours’ extra work a week and a 40% cut in her salary. She refused this offer and the firm said it was treating this refusal as a resignation.

Equality officer Vivian Jackson found that she was “dismissed in circumstances amounting to discrimination on grounds of gender and family status”.

The other applicant, Priscilla Doogan, claimed that she was discriminated against by Newgate Motor Company on the grounds of gender. She started work for the firm in September 2010 as a part-time receptionist.

Near the end of the following March she told the office manager she was pregnant. Two days later she was told she was being made redundant. Equality officer Hugh Lonsdale found in her favour and awarded €8,000.