Standing Up After Speaking Up
Standing Up After Speaking Up
Who am I?
My name is Jennifer Blackstone.
I am a mother of three and have dedicated my career to supporting vulnerable children, young people and families. Throughout my working life, I have believed in standing up for those who cannot always stand up for themselves.
In July 2024, I welcomed my beautiful baby daughter into the world. It should have been one of the happiest moments of my life.
Instead, it became the beginning of the darkest chapter I have ever experienced.
Within weeks of giving birth, I developed severe postnatal depression. My mental health deteriorated to the point where I required specialist NHS Perinatal Mental Health support. There were times when I genuinely questioned whether I would survive.
Rather than spending my maternity leave recovering and making memories with my newborn daughter, I found myself fighting simply to stay alive while my career, livelihood and future began to unravel.
Today, I am asking for your help to ensure I can continue pursuing justice.
Summary
I believe I have been the victim of whistleblowing detriment, victimisation for alleging pregnancy and maternity discrimination and automatic unfair dismissal for whistleblowing.
The Respondents deny my claims and the Employment Tribunal has not yet determined them.
This page is not asking anyone to decide who is right.
It is simply asking for your help to ensure that I have the resources to present my case fairly before an independent Tribunal.
My Story
Following the birth of my daughter in July 2024, I became critically unwell with severe postnatal depression.
This was not simply “baby blues.”
It was a serious psychiatric illness.
I required specialist NHS Perinatal Mental Health treatment, was signed off work and spent months simply trying to survive while caring for my newborn baby and my family.
At the very time I needed understanding, compassion and support, I instead found myself involved in workplace processes that ultimately resulted in my dismissal.
Only weeks after giving birth, whilst still severely unwell, I raised what I believed were genuine safeguarding and financial concerns within the organisation.
I did so in my capacity as both an employee and a shareholder.
As a shareholder, I believed I had not only the right, but the responsibility, to raise concerns with fellow shareholders where I genuinely believed matters required attention. I was not acting out of personal gain or malice. I believed I was fulfilling my legal and ethical responsibilities to protect the organisation, the children it served and its future.
I believe that, instead of those concerns being properly considered and addressed, I was subjected to detriment after and because of raising them. Within a matter of days, the Respondents began a disciplinary process against me which led to my resignation. Despite my resignation, the Respondents dismissed me on the grounds of misconduct and a Bad Leaver clause was relied upon, resulting in me losing a significant proportion of the value of the shares I had worked to build over many years.
Whether those actions were lawful and fair is now for the Employment Tribunal to decide.
The Real Cost
Losing my job was only the beginning.
For almost two years, I believe I have experienced repeated detriment that has affected every part of my life.
Every time I felt I had begun to recover from severe postnatal depression or rebuild my confidence, another event appeared to set me back.
The ongoing litigation.
The financial pressure.
Professional complaints.
Public allegations about me online that I strongly refute.
Investigations that caused enormous stress, even where they did not result in findings against me.
The constant uncertainty of never knowing what would happen next.
Instead of being able to focus on recovering and enjoying my baby’s first years, I have spent those precious years living under extraordinary emotional pressure.
I believe the cumulative effect of these events has caused lasting psychological trauma.
Although I have fought hard to rebuild my life, I continue to live with the effects of that trauma.
Hypervigilance.
Anxiety.
Intrusive memories.
Disturbed sleep.
A constant fear that another allegation, another legal letter or another public attack is around the corner.
The woman I was before giving birth feels like a different person.
The confidence I once had has been replaced by caution.
The excitement I once had for my career has been replaced by years spent defending my reputation.
No mother should spend the early years of her child’s life fighting simply to protect her future.
Why This Matters
This case is about far more than my employment.
It raises important questions about how women experiencing severe postnatal mental illness are treated in the workplace.
It raises questions about whether employees and shareholders should be able to raise genuine safeguarding and financial concerns without fearing detriment.
It raises questions about whether whistleblowers receive the protection the law intends.
It raises questions about the use of contractual provisions, including Bad Leaver clauses, when employment relationships break down.
If my claims are upheld, I hope this case encourages organisations to treat women experiencing severe postnatal mental illness with compassion rather than conflict, and to ensure that people raising genuine concerns are listened to rather than silenced.
Why I Need Your Help
Justice should never depend upon who has the deepest pockets.
The organisations defending these proceedings have significant financial resources.
I do not.
Employment litigation of this complexity is incredibly expensive.
The legal costs of specialist solicitors, experienced barristers, expert witnesses, disclosure, document management and preparing for a lengthy hearing are beyond what most ordinary families could ever afford.
I simply want the opportunity to stand on equal footing and have my case heard fairly.
How Your Donation Will Help
I am seeking to raise funds to contribute towards:
- Additional specialist employment solicitors.
- Barristers.
- Expert evidence where appropriate.
- Any further legal work reasonably required to present my case fairly.
Any funds raised will be used solely in connection with these legal proceedings.
If, following the conclusion of my case and the payment of all reasonable legal costs, it is my intention to establish a small fund to support others who find themselves facing similar circumstances.
Throughout this journey I have met people who believe they have been treated unlawfully but simply cannot afford to pursue justice.
Too often, access to justice depends not on the strength of your case, but on the size of your bank account.
Thank You
If you’ve taken the time to read my story, thank you.
Whether you are able to donate, share this page or simply offer words of encouragement, your support means more than I can express.
This isn’t simply about one legal case.
It is about ensuring that a mother who believes she was treated unlawfully whilst suffering from severe postnatal depression has the opportunity to have her case properly heard before an independent Tribunal.
It is about standing up for the principle that justice should not depend on wealth.
Thank you for believing that access to justice should be available to everyone and that a woman should be able to be both a successful business woman and have precious time safeguarded.
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