A teenage hairdresser has been awarded almost £29,500 after an employment tribunal found that she was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against after becoming pregnant.
Jasmine Hewitt, who was 19 at the time, worked as a trainee salon stylist at Elite Hair Lounge in Stockwell, London. The tribunal found that she was subjected to pregnancy discrimination and age discrimination, including being told by her manager that she should have an abortion because she was too young to be pregnant.
Hewitt was ultimately awarded £29,489.62 in compensation following the tribunal's remedy judgment.
Manager Told Teen She Should Have an Abortion
Hewitt began working at Elite Hair Lounge on 5 October 2023 as a trainee salon stylist.
According to the tribunal judgment, her manager, Edna Houshyar, discovered that Hewitt was pregnant on 4 December 2023 after seeing her arranging a private ultrasound appointment. During a subsequent conversation, Houshyar told Hewitt that she should have an abortion because she was too young to be pregnant.
The employment tribunal specifically upheld this complaint as both pregnancy discrimination and age discrimination.
Hewitt was upset by the conversation and asked to go home, although her request was refused. The tribunal later found that the comment about terminating her pregnancy was discriminatory.
Pregnancy-Related Issues Raised at Work
The tribunal also considered several incidents that happened after Hewitt's pregnancy became known.
One involved her being marked as late on 22 December 2023 despite attending a medical appointment. The tribunal found this amounted to pregnancy discrimination.
Hewitt also said she had been initially refused time away from work for an ultrasound appointment and that her pregnancy-related illnesses and medical appointments came under increased scrutiny.
In January 2024, she told Houshyar that she was unable to work because of pregnancy-related migraines and had a doctor's note covering her absence.
Houshyar responded by asking whether Hewitt could continue working given the number of days she had requested off. The tribunal accepted that this exchange had taken place.
Dismissed Minutes After Asking About Maternity Leave
The most significant part of the case concerned what happened on 18 January 2024.
At around 5.30 pm, Hewitt messaged Houshyar asking what would happen to her job and apprenticeship after she went on maternity leave. She wanted to know whether she could return and continue her training after having her baby.
Just 19 minutes later, at 5.49 pm, she received notice that her apprenticeship had ended.
The initial explanation said that she had failed to meet certain milestones that were considered integral to the apprenticeship programme. However, the employer later cited other reasons, including tardiness, absences and customer service concerns.
The tribunal considered the timing of the dismissal particularly significant. It also found that there had been no verbal or written warnings about Hewitt's alleged performance problems. The tribunal found that there was no contemporaneous evidence supporting some of the reasons later given for ending her employment.
The judgment concluded that Hewitt's pregnancy was the principal reason for her dismissal.
No Evidence Backed the Performance Claims
Elite Hair Lounge later raised concerns about Hewitt's alleged tardiness, days off and customer service. However, the tribunal found that Hewitt had not taken unapproved days off. It also found that some lateness had been recorded even though it had not occurred.
While Hewitt had been late on three occasions in December, the tribunal found that the employer's wider claims about her attendance and performance were not supported by sufficient evidence. The tribunal also noted that no workplace measures had been put in place to support her after the salon learned she was pregnant, despite the physical demands of her role.
Tribunal Upholds Discrimination Claims
In its judgment, the tribunal upheld Hewitt's complaint of automatic unfair dismissal. It also upheld her claim of direct age discrimination relating to the manager's reference to her age when advising her to terminate her pregnancy.
Several pregnancy discrimination complaints were also upheld, including the abortion comment, the treatment of her medical appointment and the dismissal shortly after she asked about her position following maternity leave.
What Hewitt's Case Highlights
The tribunal awarded Hewitt £14,909.38 for automatic unfair dismissal, comprising basic and compensatory awards, along with £7,500 for injury to feelings. A 20 per cent uplift was applied to the relevant awards, with interest also added. In total, the amount payable by Elite Hair Lounge was £29,489.62.
Hewitt's case tackles the importance of the circumstances surrounding an employee's pregnancy disclosure and subsequent employment decisions. The tribunal considered the timing of events, how Hewitt was treated after announcing her pregnancy and whether the evidence supported the reason given for her dismissal.
