Row erupts after pregnant Sail Canada coach fired

Controversy has erupted after two-time Olympian Lisa Ross was fired from her position on the coaching staff of Canada’s national sailing team, nine days after she told her employers she was pregnant and was planning to take maternity leave.

Sail Canada says that the decision was related to a lack of funding for Ross’ position, and was not influenced by her pregnancy announcement.

“Sail Canada terminated Lisa Ross’s contract for financial reasons, which had nothing to do with Lisa Ross being pregnant,” the organisation said in a statement to The Canadian Press, as reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

“Discussions and the decision to terminate Lisa Ross’s contract took place well before she verbally informed Sail Canada’s high-performance director that she was pregnant.”

The news echoes reports of Vendée Globe skipper Clarisse Crémer, who was dropped by her sponsor Banque Populaire in February, after she had a baby. Crémer will return to sailing with a new team and a new sponsor to pursue her Vendée Globe 2024 ambitions.

According to The Canadian Press, Lisa Ross was let go from her role in March 2023 via a video call with Sail Canada’s chief executive officer Don Adams and high-performance director Mike Milner. Ross, who was working in Italy with Canadian sailors at the European championship, was reportedly told to pack her bags and return to Canada instead of moving onto training assignments in Spain, as had been planned.

“It was strange and shocking,” Ross tells The Canadian Press. “It was a five-minute phone call where I was fired, basically, without cause. “I was in Europe. I was in the middle of a planned six-week trip.”

In its statement, Sail Canada says Ross’s salary of CA$80,000 had been supported by Sport Canada Gender Equity funding — which was terminated at the end of the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

“Sail Canada was able to maintain Lisa Ross’s position in the next fiscal year through the Return to Sport funding programme but, unfortunately, that funding is no longer available in 2023-2024,” the organisation says. The organisation insisted its decision to fire Ross was made “because of financial reasons based on the information available at the time of budget finalisation.”

Sail Canada says the gender equity funding may become available again ‘sometime in the future’.

“With the 2023-2024 Olympic season fast approaching, and in order for Sail Canada to prioritize Olympic hopefuls and maintain a balanced budget, Sail Canada has to make drastic cuts to its high-performance budget,” the organisation adds.

In March, the World Sailing Trust (WST) launched Project Juno, bringing together six initial recommendations and considerations to support better maternity policies in sailing setting it on a more inclusive course when it comes to women who wish to become mothers and remain in their chosen fields.

Sail Canada says it sought advice from a Nova Scotia labour lawyer’s advice on 21 February to analyse the decision to sack Ross on 17 March — before she told them about her pregnancy. It adds that the timing of the decision was made to coincide with the end of the European championships, which ran from 10-17 March 2023, to avoid ‘distractions’ for the sailors.

“I just would have liked the opportunity, if funding was the issue, to visit any possibility of ensuring that I can continue in my role as one of the more senior coaches on the staff,” Ross says.

Ross had been the sole woman on Sail Canada’s technical staff of a high-performance director and coaches. Since her dismissal, high-performance sailing coach Rosie Chapman has been hired on a contract basis.

CBC reports that Ross has filed claims with Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Board and Human Rights Commission but has not sued Sail Canada.

“I’m not asking for a massive amount of money,” Ross says. “I’m asking for my job back. I want to be a part of the sport system that I’ve been a part of since I was 17.”