Woman demoted and told to 'look for another job' because she was pregnant

A woman has won a discrimination case after her boss told her to "look for another job" when her pregnancy left her unable to perform some physical parts of her job.

Abbey Gannapureddy had been assistant manager at an ice cream shop in Chester since September 2018 before she was demoted and dismissed because she was pregnant, an employment tribunal found.

The pregnancy left Mrs Gannapureddy unable to lift tables, reach the front tubs for scooping ice-cream or bend to lift cakes to serve to customers at Ice Stone Gelato on Bridge Street, Cheshire Live reports.

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Mrs Gannapureddy felt "vulnerable" in her role, the Manchester tribunal heard, and she had said at five months pregnant that she "should not be lifting heavy tables" to mop the floor by herself.

The situation ignited on August 20, 2019, when Mrs Gannapureddy’s colleague, Adil Hussain, nephew of store manager Faisal Mohammed, would 'pull a face' when Mrs Gannapureddy was unable to complete tasks. Mr Hussain went on to tell her that: "maybe she shouldn’t be in work."

Mr Hussain also told Gannapureddy that if he had a pregnant wife she would 'not be allowed to work.' In a message to her boss, Mrs Gannapureddy said that Hussain had talked to her "like rubbish."

"[How] do you think that makes me feel when he says I should not be at work," she went on to write. She also told Mr Mohammed that she was "pregnant not disabled," and that health and safety and risk assessment came into the situation.

Mr Mohammed reacted angrily, replying "what am I paying you for??" He also expressed his frustration that he was having to pay someone to do those parts of the job that she "cant or