Lesbian wins estate agent discrimination case
Britain’s first lesbian and gay estate agency has been found guilty of sexual discrimination after a former employee proved she was sacked because she was pregnant.
Corrina Slow will be paid £13,000 compensation from the gay friendly 2Let estate agency in Brighton after being dismissed when her boss discovered she was 16 weeks pregnant.
Her former boss Kevin Newman told the Brighton Employment Tribunal he didn’t know she was pregnant until the next day, he said: “I didn’t fire her because she was pregnant. I didn’t even know she was pregnant.
“Corrina is a nice enough person. She comes over well but I honestly believed she could never make a profit for the company.”
He said she was aware of the concerns over her work from a previous meeting, which she denies ever took place.
Her girlfriend, Hilary Noble, was also at the tribunal, she showed a picture of Ms Slow with a pregnant bump, allegedly taken on the day of the dismissal.
She said: “I thought there was a possibility that Mr Newman might try and say she wasn’t pregnant when she quite clearly was.”
Ms Slow, 27, became pregnant in May 2005 through artificial insemination but didn’t tell anyone as she had previously suffered a miscarriage, the tribunal heard.
She organised a meeting in August to tell her manager, Kevin Newman, but was instead handed her notice without any reason.
She claims a fellow worker, Michael Blando had told Mr Newman about her pregnancy and accused her former employer of not considering the possibility of a lesbian getting pregnant.
Ms Slow said after the hearing, “This is an important case that will extend the rights of gays and lesbians in the workplace.”
