A company owned by 'motivation' speaker and entrepreneur, Brian Mordaunt, was ordered to pay €72,000 to a former employee over its "wholly unacceptable" treatment of her during her pregnancy.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal said it was reasonable that the claimant, Jennifer Beary of Kilsheelan, Co. Tipperary, had left her job at the car dealership in light of the treatment she had received at the hands of her employer. 

The company failed to appear at a public hearing of the unfair dismissal case held in Clonmel during October, despite being formally notified of the date. 

The tribunal said Beary was treated in a wholly unacceptable manner in relation to her pregnancy and statutory maternity entitlements.

Beary gave evidence that while she was in hospital in May 2010 due to a serious bleed, she was inundated with texts and emails from her employer. On being discharged, she was collected from hospital and brought directly to her workplace. 

After returning to work following the stillbirth of her baby in July 2010, Beary was subjected to unacceptable comments and treatment described as "indecent". 

Mordaunt also insisted she return to work within a fortnight after the baby’s death on the understanding that it would be on a part-time basis until she felt able to cope. However, a week later the company terminated such an arrangement and demanded she return on a full-time basis. 

The Tribunal noted that mothers of stillborn babies delivered after the 24th week of pregnancy are entitled to 18 weeks’ maternity leave.

Mordaunt, is a motivational speaker and author of Shepherd’s Pie, which detailed “the painful account” of the company’s financial struggles during the recession. The tribunal found Beary was unfairly dismissed by Mordaunt based on her uncontested evidence.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal heard evidence that Brian Mordaunt and Sons, based at Davis Rd, Clonmel, had asked the claimant to compromise her professional ethics over the treatment of VAT liabilities on repossessed vehicles.

Irish Examiner (17th November)