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An employee's defamation claim against two former managers, who allegedly gave bad references to her prospective employer, has been struck out because of "incurable deficiencies" in her allegations.

The Federal Circuit Court heard that in late 2020, the Centacare Catholic Family Services placement practitioner disclosed that she was pregnant, and her maternity leave application was approved in early 2021.

About a month later, she applied for an internal case manager role, but was unsuccessful. She said she was told the employer needed "someone who could hit the job running", not someone who would be off work for up to 12 months.

In a subsequent complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, the employee said the employer had directly discriminated against her on the basis of her pregnancy...