Christine was in a job where she had been performing not just well, but in fact great. In this very job, her clients loved her and she always exceeded the expectations of her employer. Suddenly she could do nothing right. They began focusing on every negative little thing, subjecting her to undue and unfair scrutiny and saying things about her work which were downright lies.
We lodged a claim on Christine’s behalf with the Workplace Relations Commission. We drafted written submissions for her and attended the hearing with her in Carlow. There we directly challenged Christine’s employer on her behalf. We strongly conveyed to them that what they had done was not just illegal but unfair and revolting. Our detailed written submissions outlined how the manner in which she was treated affected her and what should be done about it.
FORMER EMPLOYER FOUGHT THEIR CORNER
Her former employer fought their corner. They argued that none of this was because of Christine’s pregnancy and that this was all coincidental. It was all a big mistake! The work according to them had simply dried up! They said that the changes resulted from a realisation internally that Christine was not sufficiently qualified to do certain tasks.
In fact, Christine did have the qualifications she needed, but even if she didn’t, this had never been a concern prior to her pregnancy and didn’t appear to be a problem for her former work colleagues. Maybe Christine had overnight become really bad at her job?
WE SAID THAT THIS WAS COMPLETE NONSENSE AND THE ADJUDICATOR AGREED WITH US.
We subjected her employer to cross-examination, highlighting for the Adjudicator the inconsistencies in their position. Their Lies. Clearly demonstrating for the WRC how Christine had been discriminated against in the most callous and vindictive sort of way. Christine was not a bad worker, she was really good at her job, the work hadn’t just dried up, her employer had discriminated against her because of her pregnancy. Christine had the opportunity to have her say and while as nerve-racking as that may have been for her, she wanted to and deserved to be heard.