When Abby McCawley found out she was having a girl, she sent a message to her coworkers to share the exciting news.
asserted
she → find → news
"Everyone around me was so happy, including the people I worked for and the people I worked with," she said.
asserted
she → include → people
After taking two days off work to manage morning sickness, Abby returned to her desk in the office and discovered something odd.
asserted
Abby → take → something
She couldn't log onto her computer.
asserted
She → log → computer
Moments later, Abby's boss called her into his office and terminated her employment.
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boss → call → employment
"I burst into tears," she said.
asserted
she → burst → tears
"I was shocked, I was upset …
asserted
I → shock → ?
I thought about the baby.
"
asserted
I → think → baby
I just thought, 'I haven't done anything wrong, why am I being let go?'"
asserted
I → think → anything
Abby said she had never received warnings she wasn't performing.
asserted
she → say → warnings
"It had to be because I was pregnant,"she said.
asserted
I → have → ?
More than 100 women have told Four Corners they lost work after becoming pregnant or having a child.
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they → tell → child
Some were employed at Australia's biggest companies, and nearly a quarter worked in the public sector.
asserted
quarter → employ → sector
Together, the cases reveal the problem is far bigger than a few bad bosses.
asserted
problem → reveal → bosses
After analysing dozens of cases, Four Corners has established a collection of tactics used to push mothers out of the workforce, revealing an unwritten playbook used by employers.
Fired after being publicly praised by the company on social media
In the weeks before Abby was let go, she had no idea her job was at risk.
asserted
job → analyse → risk
Then, in her first trimester, she asked to work remotely for a few hours to manage morning sickness.
asserted
she → ask → sickness
Her request was denied by the office manager.
asserted
request → deny → manager
Instead, Abby was told a new policy required employees to give a day's notice to work from home.
"It [was] quite disappointing, because it's obviously not something that you can predict," she said.
asserted
she → tell → that
Still, Abby felt secure in her job and wasn't worried.
asserted
Abby → feel → job
A week before Ray White Brunswick terminated Abby's employment, the real estate agency publicly praised her on Instagram.
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agency → terminate → Instagram
When she was fired, Abby said she was told it was partly due to a company restructure.
asserted
it → fire → restructure
She took her employer to the Fair Work Commission seeking compensation, but mediation failed, so she is now suing Ray White Brunswick in the Federal Court.
asserted
she → take → Court
Her lawyer, Laura Blandthorn from Solidarity Solicitors, alleged Abby had experienced "very clear, direct discrimination based on her pregnancy".
asserted
Abby → allege → pregnancy
She said Abby was initially told her employment was terminated due to an "office restructure", then was later advised it was due to "performance reasons".
asserted
it → say → reasons
"There was a shift in the alleged reason for the dismissal,"Ms Blandthorn said.
asserted
Blandthorn → be → reason
Ray White Brunswick's director Jamil Allouche declined an interview with Four Corners.
asserted
director → decline → Corners
In a statement, he said: "Abby's employment was terminated for the reasons that we discussed with her at the time her employment ended.
asserted
employment → say → time
"Those reasons related to her behaviour in the workplace, reported to me by other employees and observed by me as the decision-maker.
asserted
reasons → relate → maker
"As the matter is currently before the court, I am not able to comment further, and I will allow the process to take its course."
asserted
process → comment → course
Mr Allouche did not respond to further questions about what that behaviour was.
asserted
behaviour → respond → questions
Lawyer Susan Price, from the Working Women's Centre NSW, has represented women facing pregnancy discrimination for decades and said in other cases, criticism of a new or expectant mother's performance in the workplace was common.
asserted
criticism → represent → workplace
"You do see what I describe as a real shift in attitude towards a worker once they've come into the workplace and announced they're pregnant," she said.
"
asserted
she → see → workplace
It's almost like that worker has now been identified as a problem and things that were absolutely fine before, start to get criticised, their performance gets managed."
asserted
performance → identify → problem
Twenty-one women told Four Corners they had been let go after becoming pregnant, only to find someone else had taken their job, and in some cases under a different title.
asserted
someone → tell → title
It's a practice lawyers call a "sham restructure".
asserted
lawyers → call → ?
Zana Bytheway, executive director of employment rights legal centre, JobWatch, said it can sometimes happen to women on maternity leave.
asserted
it → say → leave
"They may find their job has been made redundant, but it's often a construct," she said.
uncertain
she → find → ?
"Often they found that their actual position … is still there."
asserted
position → find → ?
Melbourne mother highlights vulnerability of casual workers
The experience of factory worker, Challis, who asked to keep her surname private, shows casual workers can be especially vulnerable to pregnancy discrimination.
asserted
workers → highlight → discrimination
For two years, Challis worked in a Melbourne warehouse for NewCold, one of the world's largest refrigerated food companies.
asserted
Challis → work → companies
…and 43 more, not listed.
The Aporia