The complainant suffered a miscarriage and was absent from work for just over a week. On the day she returned she was informed she was being dismissed and was given one week’s notice. The respondent demonstrated to the Equality Officer the difficulties facing it at that time and these were entirely accepted by the Equality Officer. He also accepted the assertion that had the pregnancy proceeded to full term, the complainant would have been laid off following her return from maternity leave.

The Equality Officer considered the special protected period applying to pregnancy and maternity leave. He stated that while the complainant was not pregnant, a dismissal of a pregnant person for any reason linked with her pregnancy is unlawful. He stated: “It is a fact that the complainant’s sick leave was fundamentally linked with her pregnancy” and even though her job would eventually have been redundant, the timing of her dismissal was facilitated by her pregnancy-related absence. He found “I am satisfied that the Complainant was discriminated against on the gender ground, in that her tenure of employment was ended prematurely due to her miscarriage”.

As the respondent has ceased operations in a situation of substantial debts, the complainant accepted there is little prospect of the complainant receiving any award made to her. Nonetheless, the Equality Officer made an award of €12,000. The Acts states (section 79(6)), where a complaint is upheld, the Equality Officer “shall” award redress.

Why this case is of interest:  Due to the timing of her dismissal, on return from sick-leave connected with her pregnancy, it was considered unlawful.