Kerala Was Chastised By The Kerala High Court For Terminating Woman For Her Maternity Leave

The Kerala High Court, while hearing a case in which a woman was refused maternity leave, chastised the state for terminating her employment as a counsellor at the Women and Child Development Department and ordered the order to be set aside.

Vandana Sreemedha, a contract Counsellor, submitted the petition after being fired from her job for allegedly taking an unlawful vacation. She said in her plea that her appeal for maternity leave was denied and that to add to her misery, she was fired when she attempted to take the leave. She further said that she had addressed many authorities with a request for maternity leave, but that her efforts had been in vain. Sri B Mohanlal, an advocate, represented the petitioner in the case.

It was also presented to the Court that the Director of the Department had threatened to take action against the District Child Protection Officer for appointing the petitioner.

As a result, he implied that he shouldn't have hired her only because she had recently given birth and needed time off to care for her child.

Justice Devan Ramachandran said in their decision that only the woman knows how terribly difficult it is to reconcile parenthood and her job.