A woman who was told by her employer that she would be useless because she was pregnant is to receive substantial damages after winning her claim for sex discrimination.

Louise Manning earned £55,000 a year as a senior sales executive for a company supplying security systems. She told the employment tribunal that when she was being interviewed for the job, her employer said he was going to ask her something he should not be asking. He then questioned her about whether she planned to start a family. She said she answered honestly that she and her husband had no such plans.

However, a year after getting the job she found that she had unexpectedly become pregnant. She wanted to continue with her career but she said her employer reacted very badly saying that she would never be the same again. He sent her a memo saying that he felt betrayed and was tempted to dismiss her and take the consequences.  

She was twice demoted while on maternity leave. She resigned and took her case to a tribunal to claim compensation. The tribunal found that the firm had committed 24 acts of sex discrimination. In its judgment it said: “It is not often these days that the tribunal is faced with such a blatant response to notification of pregnancy.”

The law offers employees substantial protection against discrimination, whether it’s to do with matters of sex, race or disability. Anyone who feels they have been discriminated against in any way should seek legal advice.