Discrimination $($or not?$)$

A few weeks after being employed by Gross, Slick & Schyster Inc., a firm of accountants, an

employee disclosed to a colleague that she suspected that she was pregnant. A month later her

doctor confirmed this. She subsequently informed her manager $($Ms Kramer$)$ that she would take her

statutory maternity leave from November that year $($four months hence$).$ She did not receive a reply

from her.

A few weeks after disclosing her pregnancy to Kramer, the employee was issued with a written

warning for three alleged instances of non$-$performance: two incidents concerned the employee$$s

failure to return the calls of two important clients $($who both subsequently complained to Kramer

about it$),$ while the final incident concerned the late filing of a client$$s tax returns. A month$-$and$-$a$-$half

before going on maternity leave the employee received a final written warning for a further incident of

alleged non$-$performance, this time for arriving an hour late for work and not informing her employer

that she would arrive late $($this was due to morning sickness$).$

Two weeks later the employee suffered cramps at the workplace and informed Kramer that she had

to seek medical treatment. She consulted her doctor and was admitted to hospital on account of

suspected pre$-$term labour. She phoned Kramer en route to the hospital to inform her of this. The

following day she informed Kramer that she had been booked off sick until the commencement of

her maternity leave.

A large amount of correspondence thereafter followed in which Kramer, among others, requested

the employee to provide her with a medical report of exactly when her maternity leave would

commence and when she would return from maternity leave. The employee did not respond to

Kramer$$s last request and was then dismissed in her absence for, among other things,

insubordination $($in that she had failed to provide the required medical report$),$ neglect of duties, and

$$failure to disclose critical information regarding pregnancy at time of application for employment$.$

The employee had been unaware at that stage that she was pregnant.

Questions:

$1\mathrm{.}1.$ Provide detail in terms of How much maternity leave is the employee entitled to$.(20)$