Municipal Court in Mostar issued the judgement establishing that the employer discriminated and canceled the employment contract after employee informed employer that she was pregnant.
M.S. was employed in the company Z. LLC and working relationship is continued without major problems until the moment when M.S. informed the responsible person that she is pregnant, after what a change in the employer attitude occurs, what resulted in cancellation of work agreement.
Foundation of Local Democracy has recognized this case as an act of discrimination and violation of the Law on Gender Equality, after what M.S. was provided with legal aid and she launched a civil action seeking a declaration of discrimination and abolition of the decision on cancellation of work agreement, which was upheld by the Municipal Court in Mostar.
Although this is the first instance verdict to which the employer has the right to appeal, it is commendable that the Municipal Court in Mostar issued a judgment in favor of pregnant women applying the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination and the Law on Gender Equality.
We are aware that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, unfortunately, in practice it is impossible to expect to hire pregnant women and it is not a rare situation that employers cancel the contracts after becoming aware that the employee is pregnant.
Thanks to her courage and determination to protect her basic human rights, with the help of the Foundation of Local Democracy, M.S. decided to fight for her rights prescribed by the Act on Prohibition of Discrimination and Protection Act of gender equality, and in the end she succeed.
We hope that this judgment is going to serve as an example to all discriminated women to fight for their rights, but also as a warning example to all those employers who seek to cancel the employment contracts for the reason of a pregnancy of a woman.
