Pregnant saleswoman called 'useless' by boss wins £60,000 compensation payout

13 April 2012

Payout: Louise Manning suffered sex discrimination over pregnancy

A saleswoman who was told by her boss that she would be "useless" because she was pregnant today won almost £60,000 compensation.

Louise Manning, 39, was warned that she would "never be the same again" when she asked to go on maternity leave and demoted after she returned following the birth of her daughter.

Mrs Manning resigned from her £55,000-a-year post as a sales director at security firm Safetell claiming sexual discrimination.

She said her boss Nick Medlam, 60, had behaved like a "Neanderthal".

An employment tribunal at Ashford, Kent, upheld her sex discrimination claim in an earlier judgment.

In a second judgment, it made the compensation award for sex discrimination but ruled she had not been unfairly forced out.

The tribunal heard Mrs Manning, of Chelmsford, Essex, was a "highly motivated, skilled and experienced executive" who handled multimillion-pound accounts.

But despite being tipped for a position on the company's board, she was twice demoted while on maternity leave with her sales targets cut from £4.1million a year to £360,000.

The tribunal found Mr Medlam, from Tonbridge, quizzed Mrs Manning during her job interviews about whether she hoped to start a family.

Nick Medlam: Managing director

In his memo to her after her unplanned pregnancy almost a year later, he accused her of a "lack of honesty when pregnancy suspected" and claimed she had been pushing for promotion and a pay rise "on false grounds".

She returned to work but was later signed off with stress and resigned.

The tribunal ruled: "Quite clearly, the note was derogatory and discriminatory.

"It is not often, these days, that the tribunal is faced with such a blatant response to notification of pregnancy."

Mrs Manning was awarded £37,100 for injury to feelings and £20,509 for loss of earnings.

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