Pregnancy discrimination case reminder

In the recent case of Ms N Hinds v Mitie Limited, Hinds received £350,000 as a result of the employer’s failure to support Hinds or adhere to their own policy and procedures.

This case provides a stark reminder of the risks around pregnancy discrimination.

From October 2018, Hinds had been a Regional Account Manager for Mitie, a facilities management company in the UK, with a lead role for their Argos account.

After falling pregnant, and informing the Account Director (Nav Kalley) and Head of Operations (Karla Harper) in July 2020, Hinds’ employer failed to adhere to multiple aspects of the maternity policy and procedures.

This included failing to carry out a risk assessment for Hinds throughout her pregnancy, which was particularly important as they knew Hinds was experiencing work-related stress from an employee she regularly interacted with.

Hinds later informed Kalley and Harper by email that she had been experiencing panic attacks, and was struggling with her work and sleep.

Hinds was concerned about potentially becoming seriously ill, and suggested setting up a handover.

However, in Kalley’s subsequent email to the HR Business Partner, Helen Young, he stated the Hinds had become “very emotional and tearful”, and he felt frustrated as he believed that Hinds was being supported and was not overworked.

Following this, Hinds went on sick leave, causing her maternity leave to be brought forward.

In this time, the employer failed to support Hinds in arranging and using Keeping In Touch (KIT) days and, in Hinds’ later return to work interview, they failed to set up any workplans.

There was no discussion of support and Hinds’ mental wellbeing continued to decrease, before she was certified with post-natal depression.

Hinds later resigned from Mitie.

In what appears to be a series of events, the employer failed to support Hinds in line with their own guidance and the manager’s approach was unsympathetic and dismissive.

The tribunal agreed that Hinds was discriminated against based on her pregnancy, and that she had been unfairly constructively dismissed.

Employers should be aware that when dealing with a pregnant worker, it is essential that employers adhere to any legal obligations, and those outlined in their own policies and procedures.

Employers should make sure to handle requests for reasonable adjustments, and overall communications, in a sensitive manner.