‘Sacked because of women’s trouble’

by Lisa Jones, South Wales Echo
A WOMAN was told to enter the dates she expected to start her periods in her work’s shared diary, an employment tribunal heard.
Kerry MacDonald, 27, a collections adviser with AA Insurance, was sacked in August 2005 because of her sickness absence record.
She suffered from a chronic gynaecological condition which meant she was often in severe pain, fainting and vomiting, and her condition was worse at the start of her period, leaving her bed-ridden.
The hearing heard her line manager, Chris Monk, told her to put the dates in the departmental diary.
Ms MacDonald, of Pengam Green, Cardiff, said she was also told to use her annual leave entitlement to cover those absences.
For two months, she booked time off in the run-up to the expected start of her period, but turned up for work if she felt well.
She stopped after advice from her consultant.
“They told me I had to use my annual leave,” she said.
“I spoke to Chris and told him what the doctor said. It wasn’t brought up again.”
She also alleges another manager, Julie Brewerton, who she later discovered also suffered from endometriosis, told her she should either have a hysterectomy or have a baby to combat her condition.
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