Human Rights Win For Fired Pregnant Woman
February 7, 2012 No Comments
A woman in PEI was fired only one hour after telling her boss she was pregnant. They, of course, claimed they were going to fire her anyway for other reasons and that they had discussed this with other staff. They said it was just bad timing, but she didn’t believe it and took them to court.
Today the verdict was released and she has won her case!
Not only will Quality Inn managers have to pay Alison MacKinnon $15, 206, but the human rights panel ordered them to “accept human resources training, including an educational presentation on human rights.”
There’s a slim possibility that MacKinnon’s firing had nothing to do with her being pregnant. The managers claimed she had a bad attitude, dressed inappropriately, and that as she was in her probation period they didn’t need to give her notice.
The human rights panel says this was irrelevant, because they should have talked to her about it and given her a chance to correct her working behaviour. And her pregnancy was likely the deciding factor in the decision to fire her, or why else would the human rights panel give the verdict they did?
“They did not advise her of these concerns and indeed they failed to give her any opportunity to address them,” panel chair Anne Nicholson wrote in the decision. “The information that Ms MacKinnon was pregnant precipitated her immediate dismissal.”
Whatever the reason, it goes to show that businesses need to follow their protocol, and they need to stop discriminating against pregnant women.
Contact the author here: mack@morningquickie.com
