Woman sacked for taking sick leave after miscarriage

A woman who was accused of taking too much sick leave, and subsequently fired from her job following a miscarriage, has won a court battle against her former employer.

Aneta Petrova, 37, was sacked from her job at Western Brand Ltd, a chicken producer in County Mayo, Ireland, on December 29, 2015.

Twelve days before her dismissal, she was rushed to hospital after fainting at home and subsequently had a miscarriage at hospital as a result of an ectopic pregnancy, according to the Irish Examiner.

Ms Petrova, who migrated from Bulgaria, said she did not know she was pregnant when she was rushed to Mayo University Hospital.

Less than two weeks later, she wept over the phone after being told by a Western Brand Ltd representative that her employment that paid $13.85 per hour had been terminated.

“I cried on the phone because I felt guilty because I lost a job I was looking for, for a year,” she told the Irish Examiner.

“It was the most sad time. I was grieving – every woman who has been through this – we all grieve. You feel guilty that you didn’t keep this baby – you feel terribly, terribly broken.

“And to top it off – just to lose a simple job like that for a reason like this – I couldn’t understand it.”

Despite doctors telling Ms Petrova she would be unlikely to be able to have children given her age and medical history, last year she gave birth to her son, David.

Last week a Labour court ruled that Ms Petrova’s former employer pay the new mother $27,000 for unfair dismissal.

According to the Irish Examiner, The Western Brand Group told the Labour court that they did not know Ms Petrova was pregnant or that she had suffered a miscarriage at the time of her dismissal.