A Zimbabwean who was sacked days after arriving in the UK has been awarded more than £25,000 in compensation.
The Daily Mail reports that Felicity Khupe came to Britain last year while expecting her second child. She did not tell her sponsors of her pregnancy.
When she revealed on her second day at work that she was six months along, her bosses were furious. They said her sponsorship would be cancelled and she would have to return to Zimbabwe.
At an Employment Tribunal, Mrs Khupe said: ‘[She told me] she was cancelling her Course of Sponsorship so I have to go to back to Zimbabwe and I have to do it as soon as possible as I would be given 30 days by the Home Office after which my visa would be cancelled.’ The tribunal heard Mrs Khupe left company accommodation the following Saturday, just one week after arriving from Zimbabwe.
Mrs Khupe was awarded more than £25,000 by an employment tribunal after it found she was the victim of maternity discrimination and unfair dismissal.
But she has been told by the Home Office she could only stay in the country legally for another 60 days unless she finds other work. Mrs Khupe will have to return to Zimbabwe by August 10, it was heard.