Leading horse trainer kicked out pregnant stablehand in row over morning sickness, tribunal hears

A leading female racehorse trainer is being sued for discrimination by a stable groom who claims she called her ‘useless’ because her morning sickness meant she felt ‘unsafe’ riding horses.

Alex Caulkett told an employment tribunal that when she found out she was expecting, boss Eve Johnson Houghton’s attitude towards her 'changed'.

Ms Caulkett claims she was then disciplined for an incident in which she was ‘blameless’ and barred from a bungalow she had been allowed to live in.

She claimed that she was then forced to sign an agreement in which she would leave the job and bungalow in return for a reference, wages and a letter to the council to help her secure accommodation was declared as ‘binding’ on October 15 2021. As a result, she is suing her employers, Eve Johnson Houghton Racing, claiming pregnancy discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Now, a judge has ruled her bosses acted ‘in bad faith’ and applied ‘illegitimate pressure’ on her to sign the agreement.

A preliminary hearing was told Ms Caulkett started working at the racehorse training business, which is home to around 80 racing horses, in February 2019, aged just 16.

Ms Johnson Houghton is renowned for her success with horses of all ages on the flat and won the National Trainers Federation Farm and Stable Award for Innovation and Wellbeing in 2021.

A racehorse she trained, Accidental Agent - named in memory of her grandfather, a wartime spy - was the surprise 33-1 winner of the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2018.

During Ms Caulkett’s employment, she did ‘very well’ by completing an apprenticeship as an equine groom - gaining a mark of distinction, it was heard.

She was paid £280 per week and was provided with shared accommodation in a bungalow on the stable yard in Blewbury, Oxon, with another fellow stable lass and lad.

In early 2021, she started a romantic relationship with the boy she lived with, referred to only as T, and fell pregnant in June that year.

Ms Caulkett claimed that after this Ms Johnson Houghton's attitude towards her ‘changed’.

She told the hearing, held in Watford, her boss now considered her ‘useless’ as she suffered with morning sickness and felt ‘unsafe’ riding horses.

Ms Johnson Houghton didn’t want her to live or work there any longer, according to Ms Caulkett. Ms Houghton denies these claims.

A ‘good record’

Ms Caulkett had a ‘good record’ and was ‘good at her job’ until September 2021, when - while pregnant - she was involved in a violent incident in which she had been ‘blameless’, it was heard.

Following the altercation, in which T smashed the bungalow window, Ms Caulkett was eventually sent a letter inviting her to a disciplinary hearing on October 4, making three allegations of gross misconduct.

However, the judge ruled there was ‘no credible basis’ for the disciplinary allegations.

The hearing was told Ms Caulkett was then left ‘really confused’ when, after taking time a short period off work, her access to the bungalow she lived in was blocked.

It was heard her bosses did ‘intend to restrict’ her access and ‘encouraged’ the other woman living there to ‘not allow her in’.

In a second disciplinary hearing invitation, Ms Johnson Houghton referenced Ms Caulkett’s relationship with T - saying it had a ‘disproportionate effect on your ability to carry out your role and for others to have the confidence in you that is necessary’.

She continued: “For those reasons I believe that we need to bring your employment to an end as well.”

‘Shocked’ and ‘alone’

Ms Caulkett, who is now aged 20, told the hearing she was ‘shocked’, and had been left feeling ‘alone’ and ‘blackmailed into splitting up with T or losing her job’.

Ms Caulkett and her newborn baby daughter were rehoused by South Oxfordshire District Council in August 2022, having previously been sofa-surfing during a period of homelessness having left the stables.

Employment Judge Victoria Othen said: “I am of the opinion that [her employers] acted in bad faith and applied illegitimate pressure on her to induce her to conclude the terms.

“She believed that if she did not sign the agreement, she would be sacked. She believed that she was homeless and had been evicted. She knew that she could not get her eviction letter unless she concluded the agreement.

“This was an urgent priority for her and all relevant parties knew this.”

The judge concluded that Ms Caulkett had entered into the agreement ‘under duress’, when her bosses wanted the matter ‘concluded swiftly’.

As a result, the judge declared the agreement be ‘rescinded and set aside’, with Ms Caulkett having agreed to it under pressure.

It was decided that the tribunal had jurisdiction to hear the complaint and a full tribunal will take place at a later date.

Ms Johnson Houghton's website states: “Eve is a leading racehorse trainer, based on the Berkshire Downs high above the village of Blewbury.

“The historic Woodway stables boast 200 acres of untouched turf downland gallops and a seven furlong all weather gallop making it an ideal location for horses to thrive and winners to be trained.”

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