TWO women who were allegedly made redundant by their employer Virgin Blue because they were pregnant are now suing the airline.
Both women had their positions in the public affairs department terminated in the same week, one of whom was four months pregnant at the time, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The two women, who had 16 years of service to Virgin Blue between them, claim they were forced into redundancy in mid-2010 without any consultation.
One of the women, who asked not to be named, was told there were no suitable positions that would suit her "specialist skills" after nine years service with the airline.
She had previously taken 12 months maternity leave in 2005 following the birth of her first child.
The other woman, who was on maternity leave for four months and was then asked to do part time work for four months.
After this she was then requested to take the rest of employed for seven years with the company, returned to work on a part-time basis following 18 months of maternity leave.
She was asked by her employer to increase her position to full-time two months later and accepted.
She says two months later, she was told her position was no longer required, despite Virgin Blue advertising and recruiting for the same position following the redundancies.
A Virgin Blue spokeswoman said the company completely rejected the allegations.
"Virgin Blue is an industry leader in supporting working mothers," she said.
More than half of the airline's workforce was female and 28 per cent of the total workforce had flexible arrangements in the last 12 months.
"We are one of the only companies in Australia with 50 per cent female representation in our executive team."
Both women will commence legal action in the Federal Court next week against their former employer, claiming their lives and careers were seriously disrupted by Virgin Blue's behaviour.
A Fair Work Australia mediation conference was held between the parties earlier this month, which failed to satisfactorily resolve the claims.
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