Returning to work after two weeks off was unsettling, as she wrote over the weekend:

“Three male bosses told me that because I was off for two weeks the audience would no longer be used to me talking, so I was just to support my two male co-hosts with their stories.

Essentially, sit and laugh and support. Whattttt??

I knew they wanted me gone, but they were going to have to fire me because I had just moved my life from Melbourne to Sydney. I worked hard and I had not committed a crime, I was having my first baby.

I was back on air for one week when my manager was told that I was no longer going to be on the show. My boss didn’t even tell me to my face that I had lost my job.”

It was a nightmare that still makes her blood boil. Speaking about her own experience on radio last week was the first time she has spoken about her experience publicly.

“Five years on and I am still really angry because this bullshit is still going on. Women are being punished for having children all the time.

No one should be made to feel like they have done something wrong or let someone down because they are having a baby. I haven’t seen those bosses since I left that radio station, to be honest I don’t ever want to again. I am still so angry about how it all went down, and I am angry at myself for not standing up for what was right. At the time I was scared, I felt if I spoke up my whole career would be over. I was wrong.”

In 2006 Tracey Spicer was sacked from Channel 10 via an email shortly after returning from maternity leave. She successfully pursued legal action against her former employer of 14 years for discrimination.

Upon Cummins’ case making headlines, Spicer immediately spoke up.

“Stay strong, hold your course, and reach out for help when you need it. If more women take action over this kind of behaviour — which, I should add, is illegal — the less likely employers will be to discriminate.

“Talitha, the women of Australia are behind you. And, judging by the hundreds of emails I received after I was ‘boned’ — from brothers, fathers and sons of women discriminated against in the workplace — there’s a whole lot of support from the fellas, as well.”

Monty was similarly supportive:

“Talitha Cummins, you are doing the right thing. You are making an important stand for so many women. Me included.”

It is a travesty that women are still facing blatant discrimination upon falling pregnant, giving birth or returning to work.

UPDATE: Talitha Cummins has reached a confidential settlement with the Seven Network in court today. She will not be reinstated at the network.

This article was first published on Women’s Agenda, and has been republished with full permission.