Woman, 27, wins payout after boss sacked her for getting pregnant
A 27-year-old mother won more than £28,000 after her boss fired her for getting pregnant on maternity leave.
Nikita Twitchen, 27, was preparing to return to her office admin post after having a baby when she discovered she was pregnant again.
But managing director Jeremy Morgan, 49, dismissed her from her job before she returned to stop her going on another 36-week maternity leave.
Ms Twitchen was left unemployed and forced to take cleaning jobs while pregnant to support her family.
She took the building services firm First Grade Projects to an employment tribunal where a judge ruled she was unfairly dismissed.
Jeremy Morgan, 49, (pictured) was found to have dismissed Nikita Twitchen because she was pregnant
Judge Havard ordered First Grade and Mr Morgan to pay compensation totalling £28,706. (A general view of First Grade Projects
Ms Twitchen, of Porth, Rhondda, was hired in October 2021 as an office administration assistant and described her working relationship with Mr Morgan as ‘very good’.
She told the Cardiff tribunal they got on well and he was ‘very responsive’ when she needed to speak to him.
But she fell pregnant and took maternity leave in June 2022 from their offices in Pontypridd, South Wales.
Eight months later she had a return-to-work meeting with Mr Morgan which ‘started positively’.
Mr Morgan said the business was doing well and had recently secured a contract with the NHS.
He said he was looking forward to Ms Twitchen coming back.
But towards the end of the meeting, Ms Twitchen revealed she was pregnant again although it was only at the eight-week stage.
The tribunal heard this ‘came as a shock’ to the boss.
When her maternity leave came to an end on March 26, no one from First Grade contacted her to confirm her return to work.
She had expected to come back on April 3 but had to chase for a response to her message to Mr Morgan.
Eventually, he messaged her saying: ‘It’s best to leave it until you have your routine in place.’
She called three times without response but later in April he rang her back to say she was being made redundant because of financial difficulties and delays in some payments to the business.
He later claimed new software was being installed which meant her role ‘would no longer exist’.
Employment Judge Robin Havard said she should be ‘commended’ for working from June to October 2023 at a launderette and a caravan park.
The judge criticised First Grade’s failure to ‘produce any evidence of the alleged financial difficulties or of the new software’ during the court case. (A general view of First Grade Project’s offices)
She cleaned caravans in the summer ‘in very hot conditions, travelling 45 minutes each way, up until she was 39 weeks pregnant’, said the judge, who added that Ms Twitchen needed a job for her family’s financial stability.
The judge also noted that Mr Morgan had initially made no mention of financial difficulties or redundancy.
The judge criticised First Grade’s failure to ‘produce any evidence of the alleged financial difficulties or of the new software’ during the court case. At no stage did Ms Twitchen receive a written statement setting out the reasons for her dismissal.
Judge Havard found that Ms Twitchen was dismissed because she was pregnant.
The judge highlighted Mr Morgan’s ‘change of attitude’ after learning of the pregnancy.
He also pointed out the change in his ‘speed of response’ to messages and the ‘complete lack of any coherent evidence-based alternative explanation’ despite ample opportunities to provide one.
The judge concluded the dismissal of Ms Twitchen was unfair, discriminatory and must have caused her ‘real anxiety and distress over a period of time, having been dismissed when pregnant and losing her sense of financial security with all the family responsibilities that she had’.
Judge Havard ordered First Grade and Mr Morgan to pay compensation totalling £28,706.
