A heavily pregnant Katherine Bashour appears at the Federal Court for an urgent injunction hearing involving ANZ Bank on August 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Paul Jeffers

Katherine Bashour was heavily pregnant when her obstetrician told her she needed to work from home because of a temporary pelvic condition. She desperately wanted to keep working – we all know on which side of childbirth we really want to be spending maternity leave.

Later in the pregnancy, her GP told her she looked pale and unwell.

Her iron levels had hit the floor and during her medical consultation, she was dizzy, light-headed. She went on to sick leave.

Bashour found herself in court, defending her job and her reputation. She resigned from the bank on October 1 but she felt she was pushed into that resignation because of the way the ANZ treated her. Now she wants to urge other workers at the ANZ to come forward and tell their stories too.


"I want to shine a light on the injustices against women and in particular, caregivers," she says bravely.

Her story is one of exhaustion, conflict and bitterness towards a company she once loved. It's a story of senior management unwilling to reach out to a woman right at the end of her pregnancy – and of a culture she feels is hostile to women who want to work and have babies.

"There is a maternal glass ceiling and you are smashed against it . . . the culture is that women are too fearful to come out," she said.

It's been a tough haul for the 35 year old woman who loved her job working in bank policy. Now the battle with ANZ is over – at least when it comes to working hours – but the war for maternal rights will continue in the courts next year.

Now Bashour wants to hear from other women who've suffered discrimination at the hands of the management of the ANZ Bank because she knows she is not alone.

"I want to tell them that they should keep going and fighting for their rights."

In August this year, she appeared in the Federal Circuit Court seeking an urgent injunction to stop the bank firing her. The court heard she was threatened with disciplinary action because she would not undergo a pelvic examination by a company-appointed gynaecologist.

The bank denied those claims at the time and said they were only asking her to see a doctor in order to assist her – but there was a history of dispute between Ms Bashour and the ANZ, which did not want to let the heavily pregnant woman work from home.

"The purpose of the consultation was to see how we could help her," a spokesman for the bank told Daily Life in August this year.

Daily Life has seen the letters written by the bank to Ms Bashour at the height of the dispute – and they paint a picture of a heartless employer unwilling to negotiate and insisting that she attend work, even though she had never been in what bankers call a 'client-facing' role – all her work was at a desk. Like many of us, she dialled in for meetings. She was working successfully from home.

"I wanted to provide for my family and the ANZ was trying to prevent me from doing so."

There are two clear documents where the ANZ is calling in to question the judgment of Bashour's doctor – including one asking how it was possible that she was fit to work yet not fit to travel (Katherine had extreme pelvic pain and we all know how that can be worsened when sitting in confined spaces of cars, trains and buses). The documents clearly call for a medical examination not a consultation. Their proposed provision of parking space was inappropriate for her condition and the bank had been advised of that.

There are many views about whether employers have the right to ask workers for medical exams – but that's not the question here. Ms Bashour's baby girl was born early due to stress complications but is now at home and healthy. Her mother, on the other hand, has not fared so well. Ms Bashour is still upset over the way she was treated by the bank.

"They were merciless to me while I was on sick leave," she says.

Here's the real question. When did so many of the senior executives at the ANZ bank who received the letter from Bashour's doctor explaining that his patient was suffering as a result of workplace conflict, all ignore it?

Why pursue a woman who is 30 weeks pregnant just to make a point?