Pregnant construction worker assigned to “unsafe” machine
Katelyn Dower loved the challenges and variety of working as a crane operator and rigger.
She was keen to keep working when she fell pregnant with her twin boys, so she says she told her manager at Allied Cranes Hire she could do anything but work on something called a Franna crane.
Text messages show Katelyn was still rostered on the Franna crane and raised concerns each time. She says there was other work that was safe for her to do.
“It was horrible, but what can you do when you raise it so many times, and they're just not listening?” she told Four Corners reporter Avani Dias.
Katelyn said she was then threatened with termination, which the company disputes.
While Katelyn started taking legal action with the support of her union, alleging pregnancy discrimination, the company went into liquidation.
"The matter was never finalised, and the allegations were not the subject of a final determination against the company,” a company spokeswoman said.
Katelyn doesn’t think she will return to the construction industry.
“It's robbed me of a career that I used to love a lot.”
To find out more about pregnancy discrimination in the Australian workforce watch Pregnancy Penalty on ABC iView.
#Pregnancy #Discrimination #Construction #4Corners
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