'Manager was taunted over pregnancy', tribunal told

A manager gave a pregnant employee a book which he joked was called '101 Things To Do With a Dead Baby', a British tribunal has been told.

Vanessa Brennan, an employee for Europe at American Express, was criticised and taunted by her line manager Michael Rutter for getting pregnant, Croydon Employment Tribunal heard.

At a presentation before she went on maternity leave, Mr Rutter gave her a book, as a gift from the staff, entitled "97 Ways To Make A Baby Laugh". He allegedly told her it was called '101 Things To Do With a Dead Baby'.

The 32-year-old, from Chelsea, who earned over £50,000 a year as a strategist product manager, claims she was told she was less viable in the workplace on account of being young and attractive.

She is claiming sexual discrimination by Mr Rutter and sexual discrimination and constructive dismissal by Amex as his employers.

Mrs Brennan's barrister Kate Gallafent told the hearing that between September 1998 and July 2000, Mr Rutter put her under such stress she almost miscarried the baby.

An internal investigation by Amex into Mr Rutter's behaviour found he had committed eight acts of sexual discrimination against her and he resigned shortly afterwards.

Miss Gallafent said among the things Mr Rutter told Mrs Brennan were: "You need to understand from the outset that you are a young, attractive female, which on this floor means that you have limited credibility".

She was also told: "The senior management team here is very chauvinistic... whether you like it or not, that is the way it is here and you are going to have to work much harder than your male colleagues to prove yourself".

After she became pregnant, Miss Gallafent said Mr Rutter told her: "I am telling you, you are making a very bad decision about announcing your pregnancy, because you know how chauvinistic most of the men out there are and I wanted to give you breathing space to prove yourself before they make a judgement about your pregnancy."

The hearing continues.