EXCLUSIVE Pregnant cleaner who was sacked by her female boss via WhatsApp after being told ‘things have been getting too much for you’ wins more than £25,000 in compensation

• Antonia Ogilvie sued for pregnancy discrimination and won £25,777 in damages

A cleaning firm manager whose female boss fired her while she was pregnant via WhatsApp with the message ‘things have been getting too much for you’ has won more than £25,000 in compensation.

Antonia Ogilvie, 29, was dismissed by Kendra Mann after going off sick with a bad back, an employment tribunal heard.

Ms Mann told the mother-of-three she was letting her go as she had been making her health her ‘main priority’.

Ms Ogilvie sued for pregnancy discrimination claiming her boss’s actions had left her feeling her feeling ‘worthless’, ‘distressed’ and in need of counselling.

Now, she has been awarded £25,777 in damages.

Cleaning firm manager Antonia Ogilvie, 29, (pictured) was fired by her female boss while she was pregnant via WhatsApp with the message ‘things have been getting too much for you’

The mother-of-three, pictured with one of her children, was dismissed by Kendra Mann (not pictured) after going off sick with a bad back, an employment tribunal heard

Ms Ogilvie (pictured on what appears to be a night out) sued for pregnancy discrimination claiming her boss’s actions had left her feeling her feeling ‘worthless’, ‘distressed’ and in need of counselling. Now, she has been awarded £25,777 in damages

The tribunal heard Ms Mann runs a domestic cleaning business, Evora Contracts, from her home in Wormit, in Fife, Scotland.

Ms Ogilvie started working as a cleaner on a zero hours contract in August last year, but was then offered an alternative role as an assistant manager and agreed a salary of £350 per week.

Two months later, Ms Ogilvie, from Dundee, found out she and boyfriend Jason Irvine, 52, were expecting and told Ms Mann immediately.

She received the previously agreed salary until November 2022 when Ms Ogilvie suffered morning sickness and was off work for five weeks as she received statutory sick pay.

The panel heard when she returned to work in January this year, she was paid less than the agreed £350 up until February, and was told it was because the business ‘did not have the funds’.

Ms Ogilvie went off sick again with pregnancy-related back pain – again receiving statutory sick pay.

In March, Ms Mann sent Ms Ogilvie a message terminating her contract with ‘immediate effect’.

The message claimed it was ‘due to your medical conditions and your health has to be a priority’, but also mentioned ‘customer satisfaction’ which had been ‘discussed before’.

Ms Ogilvie (pictured with one of her children) started working as a cleaner on a zero hours contract in August last year, but was then offered an alternative role as an assistant manager and agreed a salary of £350 per week

Two months later, Ms Ogilvie, (pictured) from Dundee, found out she and boyfriend Jason Irvine, 52, were expecting and told Ms Mann immediately

Ms Ogilvie, pictured with one her children, received the previously agreed salary until November 2022 when she suffered morning sickness and was off work for five weeks as she received statutory sick pay

Ms Mann added: ‘I think your health has been (and quite rightly so) your main priority so maybe things have just been getting a little bit too much for you which I do fully understand.

‘I wish you well.’

The Dundee tribunal heard Ms Ogilvie was left feeling ‘distressed’ disheartened and upset’ by her dismissal and ‘worthless’ as a result and started counselling.

She failed to find work elsewhere both before giving birth and afterwards. Baby Arlow was born in June 2023.

Employment Judge Sandy Kemp concluded Ms Ogilvie had been ‘unlawfully discriminated against’.

‘We were satisfied that there was genuine upset caused to [Ms Ogilvie],’ she said.

‘The dismissal caused her concern as it came out of the blue, was intimated by message only, and caused her not to be able to rely on her entitlements to statutory maternity leave and statutory maternity pay.’

She was awarded £12,000 injury to feelings.

Ms Ogilvie was also handed £11,290 for loss of earnings during and after her pregnancy having lost her job. Totalling these, alongside interest, her compensation package was £25,777.

In March, Ms Mann sent Ms Ogilvie (pictured) a message terminating her contract with ‘immediate effect’. The message claimed it was ‘due to your medical conditions and your health has to be a priority’, but also mentioned ‘customer satisfaction’ which had been ‘discussed before’

Speaking afterward, Ms Ogilvie said: ‘I did nothing wrong, all I did was get pregnant.

‘It’s been a long process but if you feel like you’ve been discriminated against, go see someone about it and ask.

‘I’m glad it’s over and that I won the case, because I had so much evidence on my side.

‘My solicitor was with me every step of the way and was so helpful, he gave me the confidence [to do this].

‘It’s not about the money but it’s the principle.’

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