Job Offer withdrawn after informing employer that I am pregnant.

[Char1997]

Hi all,

I originally posted this on as a pregnancy thread. As the situation has evolved I have been advised to post on here. I was offered a job yesterday afternoon and although I know I was under no obligation to inform them, I told the employer that I was expecting in December. Since then I have had the job offer withdrawn as they felt that I “misled them” and wasn’t honest. Is anyone able to give me some advice if I were to take this further.

I responded to her original email with the following and have received a response which I will post after this.

I agree; they are total morons to put that in writing and you can take them to the fucking cleaners. They absolutely positively cannot withdraw a job offer on the grounds that you are pregnant/did not reveal something you have zero obligation to reveal.

Document every conversation you've had with them through the process factually: time, date, who said what. Save call logs and emails.

That's a good response email, IMO, although I am not a lawyer. I would definitely get on the horn to ACAS and/or Pregnant and Screwed asap.

I then received this as a response. Her tone has completely changed and I feel she’s just trying to cover her back?

Ooft, someone is going to get one hell of a kicking there. I'm guessing they didn't bother to go through HR. They should have.

My God. Absolutely take this to Acas. In fact in order to lodge a claim with the Employment Tribunals you HAVE to go through acas first and then if they cannot mitigate then they will issue you a certificate which is submitted to the courts when you lodge your claim. Please be swift about this the timelines are very short from the act of detriment. Contact Acas today or tomorrow and also there is a Maternity rights group (I cant remember the name) they may be able to access funds to employ a legal team for you.

Another vote here for Pregnant then Screwed.

Maternity Action are also v good.

Doesn't matter if it was just a verbal offer: you have enough evidence to nail them.

Go for it xxx

Also what weird emails this person sends. They're not very professional in tone at all.

The key sentence in what she said is "had you told me at the start..."

You don't have to.

Get legal advice and fuck them.

Quite amazed at most of the responses on here, although I suppose I shouldn't be.
I realise this is potentially against the law, but that in itself is ridiculous.
Can no one else see why a company might not be too keen on taking someone on who is probably only going to work for about three months before taking up to a year off?
I think sometimes people get so wrapped up in their rights, they can't take a step back and see things in a, sensible way.

Forget ACAS. Speak to an employment lawyer. I know very little about employment law (my area of expertise is family law) but from what little I do know I do believe they're screwed.

Ooh, wonder if she had permission to disclose the addiction issues of the recent recruit, or the illness of her colleague's brother!

They're really digging themselves deeper aren't they.

Mahooooooosive back peddling and X factor style sob stories from the ardent feminist!

Don't engage any further with them. They're embarking on an arse covering excerise and that first email is all the ammo you need. Get on to Pregnant Then Screwed and follow this up. It's the only way arseholes like this will learn.

I can't believe they would actually be that stupid! That email is ridiculous.

So she's now insinuating that a job offer was never made? That she needed to talk to her colleague first?

So backtracking and lying!

I hope you get some good legal advice.

That response is bonkers. Having an addiction is not a protected characteristic. Stupid idiot.

It's like doing a phone interview, getting the job, then a week before interview saying "just to let you know I am white" or whatever. It's fucking irrelevant to whether you can do the job.

They recruited the best person for the job. They have then retracted the offer because you told them you are pregnant. Idiots.

She sounds so unprofessional it's unbelievable! Take this all the way OP! Let us know what happens next!

@cathf I think most people can accept it's an inconvenience for a business, but that doesn't trump, you know, the law. It's there for a reason.

Absolutely take them to court.

Oh I completely agree that obviously the time I would have been working would have been short but I would have been going back after and I am a hard worker. She has definitely discriminated against me due to my pregnancy.

Try speaking to the guys at Pregnant Then Screwed (sorry if that's already been mentioned - don't have time to read every post just now) - they're great with advice for situations like yours.

Yeah, cathf, you can bore off with that. A permanent hire is a long term investment. If a business can't deal with that person being human and having a body, which might get sick or have a baby, their business isn't fit for purpose and that isn't the OP's problem. Also, you know, the law. It's the law for a really fucking good reason.

She's on pathetically thin ice with that "it's because of your DISHONESTY" bull.

OP I'm an employment lawyer, this would definitely be worth having a look at! Do you have legal expenses cover with your home insurance? If you do call the helpline, they often cover employment disputes.

Quite amazed at most of the responses on here, although I suppose I shouldn't be. I realise this is potentially against the law, but that in itself is ridiculous.

Thankfully, the law does not agree with you. It is your perogative to feel that women should have fewer employment rights but surely you must see that employers should follow the law?

Frankly and employer who is both discriminating and this stupid deserves little sympathy.