Mrs Cox was working for the MoD updating its intranet system when she fell pregnant.

At this time she had been employed on a short-term contract, which she claims she was led to believe would likely result in a permanent position. In the interests of being honest, she decided to alert her employers to her pregnancy. Mrs Cox lost her job in what was claimed to be a mere result of the recession and nothing at all to do with the fact that she was pregnant.

As a result of her pregnancy, Mrs Cox was taking a lot of time off work since she was suffering from morning sickness. In addition she was attending various antenatal classes which further disrupted her attendance at work. As the manager in charge of the update of information on the intranet the project had fallen behind due to her absences and this is what the MoD said was their main concern.

Mrs Cox claims to have received a surprising response from her line manager in relation to her absence and its affects on the project. “He just told me to stop going off sick,” she said. “I didn’t want to be sick, I couldn’t help it. “The threatening and intimidating conversation left me leaving work feeling very miserable and low.” Mrs Cox believes that her dismissal was not only unfair but also motivated by sexual discrimination.

The MoD maintain that the output of the project had been its main concerns and that it was unfortunate that as a result of the recession they were having to dismiss around 800 people. She had been asked by another manager to consider taking her antenatal classes outside of her working hours so as to improve the time that could be spent on the project since her contract was only for three days a week.

Since Mrs Cox was of the belief that the contract would become a permanent one she was shocked to hear Mr Cross telling her “that if things didn’t start to develop on the intranet soon he would have no option other than to end my contract and remind me that my contribution to the business was being evaluated while on a casual contract.”

The case has been adjourned with a hearing expected in the new year.