Issue 1: Pregnant sales representative

Case Study: On the Road and out to Dinner

Corrine Horten had been a sales representative with Printex-Access for many years. She loved her work – and the company loved her – every year her individual sales figures topped the charts. Six months pregnant with her first child Corrine was diagnosed with a viral infection and the flu. Corrine took a week’s sick leave and her manager Angus Laurent stepped in to do her urgent appointments. Pollock and Corrine were close friends, and he rang her on Sunday night to see how she was. “I’m really tired, but if I spend Monday in the office and start with a few calls on Tuesday, I’ll be fine.”

By Wednesday Corrine was back to her normal self – well physically at least. But when she returned to the office at 3.30pm she was seething. She marched down to Pollock’s office. “Well you won’t have to wait long for the complaints. I had 2 arguments today with clients; how dare they tell me what I should and shouldn’t do.”

One client said that as Angus had visited last week he’d thought she’d seen the light of day and “taken that heavily laden pregnant body off the road and home to rest.” Another, who was actually Angus’s long term squash partner, had asked who’d be taking over when she left. Corrine said she’d take 2 months maternity leave, then return part-time, breastfeeding between appointments if required. “He laughed at me. He called me foolish and selfish, and said he’d be having a chat to Angus about it !”

“I’m sure he was joking” said Pollock trying to work out in his own head how he was going to broach Corrine’s post birth plans, with their somewhat conservative CEO.
“He wasn’t joking. He said we’d talk about it more, at Friday night’s mid-year client function – I’m telling you he won’t want to raise it there because it’ll get really ugly.”

Pollock spoke to Angus to ensure there’d be no such conversation on Friday night. But he hadn’t anticipated the client’s wife would have her say. “Well I know my husband has been band from discussing your baby’s well-being, but I stayed home with my 2 children and I’m certainly under no obligation to Angus, especially as you clearly have no idea about good parenting. It’s so unreasonable to drag a newborn out so you can go to work, and as for breastfeeding on the road, that’s ridiculous. Your husband should be concerned about your self indulgent behaviour.”

Corrine left the room. The CEO turned to Pollock “what does she mean breastfeeding on the road, we can’t have that, Corrine should take more time off to be with that child, I think we have to step in here Pollock.”

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