Dismissed while pregnant

[Mpolyakova]

Ladies,

I was dismissed without warning yesterday on the grounds of poor performance just weeks before 2-year anniversary with the employer.
No discussions took place in advance. I mentioned that I'm very early in my pregnancy but was told it would not be taken into consideration.

I was also told I had no right to appeal.
This is so stressful and it looks like I cannot do anything about it.

Anyone has any experience in raising objections against employer in such circumstances?

Thanks!

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No,they couldn't know as we were all working remotely

Thank you all for support and advice. As it seems, there is practically nothing I can do about it. The employer didn't have to follow any of their internal procedures before the 2-year mark (warnings etc).Potential reason - they are struggling financially , but didn't want for that to be known publicly. They have done this to some other people.
I'm simply lost, chances of me finding a job between now and when I will start showing are close to zero,and even then I feel obliged to tell whoever interviews me that wouldn't be for long. I cry every day when I should be thinking about the baby. I hate this world.

You being pregnant is irrelevant then in the case of unfair dismissal, was your performance poor?

It’s a tough situation to be in!

I really feel for you OP. It’s so shit. I think the ‘less than two years’ rule is awful and disproportionately affects women.

Similar thing happened to me, although I wasn’t pregnant. I’d been at a small company for almost two years. Had a very positive performance review and during the review I asked for a pay rise and to change my working pattern slightly (not reduce my hours but just make a small tweak to the pattern). A month later I was handed a letter saying my performance was ‘poor’, which was literally the first I’d heard of it, and I was being dismissed. No discussion, no explanation, nothing. It was so, so patently unfair and I had absolutely no recourse. I still get livid about it if I think about it now.

Unfortunately, the only challenge you might have is if you can prove they knew you were pregnant before they dismissed you. Pregnancy is a protected characteristic, so the two year rule doesn’t apply as far as I know.

Can you clarify if they knew you were pregnant before they dismissed you.

Thanks