A senior sales executive who was told by her employer that she would be “useless” after she became pregnant could receive up to £200,000 after winning her sex discrimination claim.

Louise Manning was told that she would “never be the same again” after her boss learnt that she was expecting her first child. He later sent her a memo saying: “Feel betrayed . . . Tempted to dismiss and take the consequences.”

The level of damages will not be set until next month, when the tribunal in Ashford, Kent, will also hear a separate claim that she was a victim of constructive dismissal. Mrs Manning, from Chelmsford, Essex, said after the hearing: “This has stymied my career. I found myself in a position where I had to resign. There was no way I could go back to work.”

Before she became pregnant, Mrs Manning was earning £55,000 a year at Safetell, a supplier of security systems based in Dartford, Kent.

In its judgment, released last week, the tribunal found the firm and its managing director, Nick Medlam, guilty of 24 instances of sex discrimination. It ruled: “It is not often, these days, that the tribunal is faced with such a blatant response to notification of pregnancy.”

The company denies Mrs Manning’s claim of constructive dismissal.

Explore Law

• Columnists

• Law Panel

• Law Reports

• Student Law

Times Recommends

• Linklaters trounces rivals as UK's biggest firm
• Clifford Chance profits plunge 37 per cent
• Casual drinkers hit by spread of 'dry' zones