A boss fired an employee after she returned from maternity leave pregnant again.

Nikita Twitchen was preparing to return to her role as an office administration assistant at First Grade Projects when she lost her job. She had started working at the Pontypridd-based company in October 2021 and soon became pregnant, going on maternity leave in June 2022.

Twitchen told an employment tribunal that she had a 'very good' working relationship with managing director Jeremy Morgan, describing him as 'very responsive' when she needed to speak with him.

After giving birth and preparing to return to work, Twitchen attended a return-to-work meeting with Morgan on 17 February 2023. The meeting initially went well, with Morgan expressing excitement for her return and agreeing on her hours.

However, the tone shifted when Twitchen revealed she was eight weeks pregnant again, which she said 'came as a shock' to Morgan. While he claimed to have congratulated her, Twitchen disagreed.

When her maternity leave ended on 26 March, no one from First Grade contacted her to confirm her return date, although Twitchen had expected to return on 3 April.

After following up with Morgan, he eventually responded, saying, "It’s best to leave it until you have your routine in place."

On 4 April, Twitchen inquired about her holiday entitlement, but Morgan failed to provide a substantive response. After more follow-ups, Morgan called her on 18 April to inform her she was being made redundant due to financial difficulties and delayed payments to the business.