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Policewoman was given dog because it was specially trained to detect drugs
Two police dogs were inactive when she fell pregnant for the first time
One dog was taken off her when she fell pregnant again due to police cuts
Katherine Keohane was awarded £9,000 for 'injury to feelings'
A policewoman who had her favourite sniffer dog taken away when she became pregnant has won more than £11,000 from Scotland Yard.
PC Katherine Keohane was so distressed after being told that one of her two dogs was to be taken that she broke down on the train home, prompting a member of the public to call police to report a crying pregnant policewoman.
She sued the Met at an employment tribunal after her dog, Nunki Pippin, was allocated to another officer when she became pregnant for the second time in less than 18 months.
PC Keohane, who still works for the Met, was awarded £9,000 for ‘injury to feelings’ and a further £2,584 for loss of overtime as a result of the decision.
She said the reallocation of Nunki Pippin would ‘greatly affect’ her role as a drugs dog-handler and would adversely affect her promotion prospects and her chances of paid overtime.
PC Keohane joined the Met’s dog support unit as a narcotics dog-handler in 2005.
She was allocated a ‘proactive’ dog – one used to detect illegal drugs, firearms and cash, and to carry out searches – called Borg Warf.
In 2008 she was also allocated Nunki Pippin, a ‘passive’ dog able to detect the presence of drugs by sniffing someone. Both dogs lived at home with her.
In April 2009 PC Keohane, who is married to a dog handler, told her boss she was pregnant with her first child, due that September. She was allowed to keep her two dogs during her pregnancy and maternity leave.
She returned to work part-time in February 2010. By this time the Met had changed its policy so that part-time officers would not normally be allowed to keep two dogs, but PC Keohane was still allowed to keep both of hers.
The narcotics drug handler was awarded £9,000 for 'injury to feelings' and a further £2,584 for loss of overtime by Scotland Yard
Giving their reasons, her bosses noted this was ‘the second occasion within 17 months’ she had given notice of pregnancy.
The reasons also referred to the dog’s inactivity for nine months due to her first pregnancy.
In October 2011, Nunki Pippin became available again and PC Keohane, who was still on maternity leave, asked if the dog could be returned to her.
After being asked when she intended to return to work, her request was turned down and the dog was reallocated to another officer.
PC Keohane brought tribunal claims of, among other things, direct pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
The tribunal at Watford found in her favour on those claims, saying it was influenced by the references to her pregnancy during the decision-making process and the apparent pressure she had been put under to return to work after her second child was born.
Tribunal chairman Judge Michael Southam said the reallocation of Nunki Pippin risked affecting PC Keohane’s status as a dual dog handler and her career prospects, and meant she lost the opportunity to earn overtime on her return to work.
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