A church nursery school discriminated against a single mother when it fired her after discovering she was pregnant, a Human Rights Commission Board of Inquiry ruled this week.

The panel, made up of chairperson Elizabeth Christopher, Marc Telemaque and Robin Sidders, awarded damages of $1,000 to 23-year-old Tamisha Smith, a teacher who was sacked by Wee Learn Nursery in 1997.

Run by the First Baptist Church on Middle Road in Devonshire, the nursery emphasises teaching infants and young children the word of God.

Ms Smith also charged that she was a victim of sexual discrimination, but the board said it found no evidence to support this.

"We find that Ms Smith was discriminated against because of her marital status and the fact that she was having a child out of wedlock,'' said Monday's judgment.

"No evidence was led to indicate that the decision to terminate her employment was directly as a result of her sex,'' it added.

Damages were awarded to Ms Smith on the grounds that her feelings were hurt when she was fired.

The judgment said: "She was dismissed during the course of the school day whilst the children were still there; this could have been done after they had left.

HRC: Nursery discriminated against mother "We do not feel this was motivated by malice so much as a lack of tact. We therefore award the sum of $1,000 under this head.'' The First Baptist Church's defence during May's hearing was that Ms Smith, a Christian, knew she would have to adhere to "Christ-honouring principles'' when she took the job.

But Ms Smith's lawyer Clare Hatcher said the ministry failed to make clear exactly what the conditions of her employment would be.

The judgment noted that it was clear Wee Learn Nursery School wanted children to be taught in a Baptist/Christian environment.

But it added: "Whilst the nursery held the so-called lifestyle requirement as sincere belief... it was not applied consistently.'' It pointed to a similar matter where another nursery employee became pregnant while unmarried but was allowed to keep working because she moved her wedding date to a few weeks before the child was born.

"The inconsistency of this approach is fatal to the discharge of the respondent's burden in this case,'' the judgment said.

"Similarly, we repeat our misgivings about the clarity of the Christ-honouring principles requirement as part of the contract of employment.

"Accordingly, we find that Wee Learn Nursery did not meet this test because it did not apply the lifestyle requirement consistently.'' The inquiry was launched after the First Baptist Church decided not to accept the Human Rights Commission's finding that it unfairly dismissed Ms Smith when she originally appealed to them in 1997.