Pregnant finance manager wins sex discrimination case

A pregnant finance manager at a Newcastle bar and restaurant who was told to choose between her unborn baby or her job has won a sex discrimination case against her former employer.

Angela Hildreth claimed her former bosses at Perdu issued her with an ultimatum after she told them she was expecting a baby in January 2006.

Hildreth said Jill Maher, mother of Perdu managing director Brian Maher, told her: “I don't think that if you keep this baby we can keep you. It's a young business and we have to put that first. We don't know how much time off you will need and things like that. I have to protect the business."

A Newcastle employment tribunal found that Hildreth, who resigned last Feburary, had been constructively, wrongfully and unfairly dismissed by the Mahers. 

Hildreth had also endured a campaign of harassment, intimidation, embarrassment and verbal abuse by her employers, the tribunal found.

Welcoming the decision, Hildreth said: "The Mahers have tried to portray me as a liar, an actress and an opportunist, but the judgment speaks for itself. 

"They made my life a misery while I worked for them, and long after I resigned. It was a very stressful, nerve-wracking experience, at a time when I was at my most vulnerable."

A remedies hearing will be held by the Employment Tribunal Service in March or April of this year to determine damages.

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By Georgina Fuller

This story first appeared on CatererSearch sister website PersonnelToday.com

E-mail your comments to Georgina Fuller here.

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