Pregnant woman told 'you had a baby at the wrong time' wins £30,000

A pregnant marketing manager who was told by her male boss 'you had a baby at the wrong time' has been awarded £30,000 after 'injury' was caused to her feelings.

The damning comment was made while Hannah Yongo - an 'exceptional' employee - was on maternity leave in 2022.

It came just two weeks into her leave beginning in February and a year after she was awarded a 5 for her job performance - the 'highest grade available'.

Ms Yongo attended a call where she was surprised to hear her role would be changing due to a 'global restructure' the company was undertaking.

She alleged it was after this call that she was told by the Director of Marketing 'You had a baby at the wrong time'.

Representing herself, Ms Yongo took the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) to a tribunal claiming she had been discriminated against.

She was awarded £28,890.43 as a judge ruled her maternity leave had a 'significant influence' on the ACCA's actions.

The five-day central London hearing was told Ms Yongo joined the ACCA in September 2019.

Initially she was hired as a Marketing Communications Manager but was later assigned the role of Marketing Manager in charge of social media.

She learned in the call in February 2022 that a restructure meant the Brand and Marketing Team was becoming 'more centralised' so campaigns would be undertaken by one team and rolled out locally across the globe.

Ms Yongo was subsequently informed that the Head of Marketing Services role she had previously been doing in addition to her main role no longer existed and a new role entitled 'Social Lead' had been introduced which she would report to.

She contacted Nick Jervis, Director of Marketing, to get more information after feeling concerned.

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During the call that followed, Mr Jervis informed Ms Yongo that her substantive role was safe but that the Head of Marketing Services role she had been doing for the last few years as additional duties no longer existed.

She was surprised to find after returning from maternity leave that her role had been 'significantly' minimised and a job very similar to hers had been assigned to a male colleague.

Giving evidence in an earlier hearing for the investigation into Ms Yongo's claims, Mr Jervis - who no longer works at ACCA - said he didn't believe he made a remark during this call about 'getting pregnant at the wrong time'.

He said: 'If I said anything like that it would have been as part of a human conversation rather than a professional one, it would've been part of a joke or part of a general conversation rather than directing her in any way shape or form but I don't recall saying it.'

Employment Judge Nasreen Akhtar noted Mr Jervis did not deny making the comments and said the 'lack of categoric denial' supported Ms Yongo's allegation.

The hearing was told that the ACCA were of the view Ms Yongo's role would remain predominantly the same.

However, the tribunal heard her role at the company prior to the restructure was more similar to the 'Social Lead' role, that had been assigned to a male staff member.

Ms Yongo returned to work in early January this year and told bosses that she had submitted an employment tribunal claim against the company

Mr Akhtar said Mr Jervis' comment was 'highly relevant' due to the events that followed.

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He said: 'We conclude, the fact the comment was made at a time when the restructure and [Ms Yongo's] role were being discussed evidences the nexus in Mr Jervis' mind between [her] maternity leave and her role within the restructure.

'We find all of Mr Jervis' resultant actions in respect of [her] role and the social lead role were tainted by his view that [she] "had a baby at the wrong time".

'We find that [Ms Yongo] has proven facts from which we can establish that the [company] has committed acts of discrimination.

'In light of all our findings above, we conclude Mr Jervis' comment, the reduction of [Ms Yongo's] role and her duties being adsorbed by the Social Lead role was unfavourable treatment.

'We also conclude that [Ms Yongo's] maternity leave had a significant influence on the company's actions.'

Awarding her compensation - including £21,000 for injury to feelings - the judge said Ms Yongo was 'extremely distressed' by what had happened.

He said: 'Her pregnancy was her first pregnancy and she had been very much looking forward to the birth of her child. [She] was undoubtedly not only upset by the events but became stressed and anxious.

'At a time when she ought to have been looking forward to the birth of her child she had to deal with the events described in our judgment and a subsequent deterioration in her health.'