Boss called new mom ‘too emotional’ after maternity leave and cut her out of work chats — tribunal put a $466,000 price tag on it
'It felt like they were trying their hardest to change everything around me to make me feel uncomfortable,' Hinds explained
Nobody deserves to be shamed at work. Nicola Hinds, a 37-year-old new mom, however, found herself facing blatant workplace discrimination shortly after returning from maternity leave at Mitie, The Guardian revealed. When Hinds couldn't handle it, she chose her peace of mind and resigned, but not before taking it to a tribunal for legal justice. Jodie Hill (@iamjodiehill), UK Solicitor & Advocate, also reported the story on October 8. Her video has since received over 72,100 views on Instagram.
Pregnancy bias at work
In April 2020, Nicola Hinds found out she was pregnant. Soon, she informed her seniors at work and noticed a sudden shift in their attitude, BBC reported. At that time, Hinds was a senior regional manager, but her bosses suggested she take on an administrative role because of her "circumstance." By October 2020, she reported suffering two panic attacks in a span of a week because of her excessive workload. When Hinds raised her concerns with her manager, Nav Kalley, he ignored them. However, Kalley emailed another colleague about how Hinds had "become very emotional and tearful especially." He also said, "I am very frustrated with this, as she is certainly not overworked, and we have been very supportive in helping her manage her workload." Kalley then suggested Hinds take unpaid leave.
Hinds finally returned to work in June 2021 but resigned shortly afterwards in September the same year. She told BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour, "Yes, I was pregnant, but the hormones or the emotional feelings that I was going through at the time were...because I was an exhausted employee." Hinds also explained that she resigned because she didn't want to continue with a company that made her feel like an "inconvenience." Hinds was excluded from her team's communication platforms, including WhatsApp and Teams. She was not even consulted about changes to her pay and work. So, she said, "It felt like they were trying their hardest to change everything around me to make me feel uncomfortable."
Justice served
When Hinds brought her issue in front of a tribunal, Judge Roger Tynan said, "In our judgment, [Mitie]’s cumulative treatment of [Ms. Hinds] over the period following her return from maternity leave until September 2021 was of itself sufficiently serious as to be destructive of trust and confidence, thereby entitling her to resign from her employment." They also understood that Mitie did not conduct a risk assessment for Hinds and that she was the victim of direct pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination. The tribunal ruled in her favor and awarded her £350,000 ($464,931).
Pregnancy fear is real
Unfortunately, even in the 21st century, pregnant women are still being discriminated against in their workplaces. A 2022 report from Morning Consult revealed that 20% of mothers actually experienced pregnancy discrimination in their workplace, while 21% were afraid to tell their bosses about their pregnancy out of fear of discrimination. 23% of moms contemplated leaving their jobs because it lacked accommodation for pregnant women or simply out of fear of being discriminated against. Sadly, Nicola Hinds had to experience it while working at a job that made her happy once. "I felt sad that I had to go through this process and that it had taken such a long time just to get acknowledgement that what I had suffered was what I had suffered," she explained.
She isn't alone
Several women shared similar stories and experiences in the comment section. @thewhitefamily13 commented, "This was said to me by a female HR person in a small company! Five months after giving birth, I came back to work, and I quote, 'You are by far the best member of staff we've ever had, but you are too emotional and cry often.' This was 9 years ago." @karondivito wrote, "This sort of thing is happening to someone I know who has just returned to work after nine months of aggressive cancer treatment."
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