'I felt I was being punished for taking maternity leave'

Police officers in Ontario now have a legally binding decision protecting their job positions, thanks to Const. Andrea Cuthill who filed a grievance when she was told she wouldn't be returning after her maternity leave to a job she had held for three years.

When Ottawa police Const. Andrea Cut-hill was told she wouldn't be returning to her job as court liaison officer and coroner's constable after becoming pregnant with her first child, she decided it wasn't right and fought back.

The result was a precedent-setting ruling that found the Ottawa police transfer policy violated Ontario's Human Rights Code, discriminating against pregnant officers by denying them the right to return to their previous job postings.

"I felt I was being punished for taking maternity leave. I knew if I hadn't taken maternity leave, I would still be there," says Const. Cuthill, who was awarded $3,000 by arbitrator Howard Snow earlier this year after filing a grievance against her employer. "That was the only reason I was being transferred

LINK: Ottawa Citizen