Mother secures payout after being sacked over second pregnancy

Posted 15/03/2011

A mother-of-two has secured a compensation payout after an employment law tribunal ruled she was sacked because she had become pregnant.

Jacky Scott, 37, joined Cox Long of Stafford in March 2006 and notified the company in April 2008 that she was expecting her first child and would need maternity leave from November 1st 2008 onwards.

However, she soon fell pregnant with her second child and notified Cox Long of the matter in September 2009, explaining that she intended to take another year off beginning on March 22nd 2010.

Two weeks later, Ms Scott received a letter from her employer to say she was potentially going to be selected for redundancy and was then subsequently sacked.

She took Cox Long to an employment law tribunal and has now won her claim for sexual discrimination.

“We conclude [the] dismissal for redundancy was prompted by her notification in late September 2009 that she was pregnant,” a spokesperson said, approving an undisclosed five-figure sum in compensation.

In November 2010, Oksana Denysenko won a £1.5 million payout from Credit Suisse after she returned from maternity leave to find she was surplus to requirements.