Children’s Health Queensland fined for discriminating against pregnant worker
By Cloe Read
Queensland Health has been ordered to pay almost $40,000 to a worker who was discriminated against when her contract was not renewed after she fell pregnant.
Melanie Rolfe was employed as a project officer with the Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service between 2017 and 2018.
The Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service was ordered to pay almost $40,000 to former worker Melanie Rolfe.
At the time, Rolfe had been employed on a fixed-term temporary contract basis through the Queensland Youth Cancer Service, and had previously had her contract extended.
But she claimed she was discriminated against on the basis of gender and pregnancy when her contract was not extended after she fell pregnant.
Rolfe took the case to the Queensland Human Rights Commission in June 2019. However, it was not resolved, court documents state, and the matter was referred to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
Rolfe told the commission the case was not about paid maternity leave, but about the way her contract was handled and the way she was treated when she highlighted “it was not being handled in line with their own policies, ethically, or legally”.
She claimed the hospital service breached the Anti-Discrimination Act by not renewing her contract because she was pregnant despite further planned work estimated to take at least a year, and calculating the end-date of her employment contract by reference to her due date.
Rolfe also claimed she was told her employment contract needed to be stopped and then restarted, in case the hospital service needed to employ someone to cover her parental leave absence.
The Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service denied contravening the Anti-Discrimination Act, and said there was only a “projected” second phase in her project. The commission agreed that that was less certain than if it were “planned” or “confirmed”.
The service also argued it calculated Rolfe’s contract by reference to her due date in line with the parental leave policy, which stated an employee must cease work six weeks before their expected delivery date, unless they had medical clearance to continue working.
Rolfe sought to be compensated across several categories, including past and future economic loss, and the impact to her child. She sought $40,000 for the impact “the stress, hurt, humiliation and psychological distress” had on her child at the time.
Industrial Commissioner Roslyn McLennan accepted Rolfe’s allegations that her contract was not renewed, the end date was calculated by reference to her due date, and that she was told her contract needed to be stopped and restarted because of the protected attribute of her pregnancy.
“I find that CHQ failed to renew Ms Rolfe’s employment contract because of her pregnancy,” McLennan said in her decision this month.
She ordered the hospital service to pay Rolfe $17,491 for past economic loss, $15,000 in damages, $3274 in medical costs, and $1276 for witness costs. The total compensation awarded was $37,041.
McLennan did not grant Rolfe’s claim for financial compensation for impact on her child, stating there was insufficient evidence presented by Rolfe. She was also not granted her claim for future economic loss.
The service was also ordered to write a private apology to Rolfe, and pay the money within 28 days of the court’s decision.