A Treviso labor judge has ordered the reinstatement and compensation of €50,000 for a manager fired while pregnant . The decision comes after the woman reported discriminatory behavior in the workplace . During meetings, she was allegedly asked to serve coffee to colleagues.   "as a woman."

In the ruling, the judge acknowledged the violation of Article 54 of Legislative Decree 151/2001, which protects working mothers from dismissal from the beginning of the pregnancy until the child's first birthday. This was the situation in which the manager found herself at the time of the disciplinary action. For this reason, the court ordered her reinstatement and the payment of €50,000 in compensation .

The plaintiff, a member of the family that owns the company, was challenged by the company's owners for using company resources for personal expenses, a charge later revealed to be minor because it was common practice. She prevailed in her complaint about harassing, bullying, and seriously offensive conduct by company management, which also constituted discrimination. This included statements by a superior such as "you don't deserve management and the position of Group Sales Manager. I need a man, and one with experience at that," or, during work meetings, the requirement to "make coffee for the participants," a task she was "expected" to perform as a woman. The ruling highlights how the incidents "constitute 'harassment' because they are unwanted (for any worker, including a manager), committed for reasons related to gender," and that, overall, they constitute "clearly demeaning and harassing conduct because they are repeated and continuous, with varying degrees of intensity."

(Unioneonline)