What do I do after completing the requirements for a promotion and then being told there is no business case? I’m 6mos pregnant too.

About a year ago, I approached my manager about compensation. I was told that raises outside of the normal annual process weren’t really an option and that the best path forward would be a promotion to Senior Advisor. I was specifically told that completing my Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification would position me for that promotion.

Over the past year, I asked about advancement multiple times—including after receiving a higher-paying management offer from another organization and after requesting a pay equity review. Each time, I was told that the promotion path was the best way forward and that completing my Green Belt would help create the business case.

So I completed the certification. Now that I’ve finished it, I’m being told there is no business case for the promotion.

What frustrates me is that my performance reviews have been very positive. My manager has described me as the “face” of improvement in our region and noted that I’ve delivered on every request asked of me. I reviewed the Senior Advisor job description line by line and genuinely believe I am already performing most of the responsibilities of the role.

My frustration isn’t that I wasn’t automatically promoted. It’s that for the last year, the message was that completing the Green Belt and continuing to take on additional responsibilities would create the business case. After doing exactly that, the conversation has shifted to whether a business case exists at all.

One additional factor that has crossed my mind is that I’m currently six months pregnant. I have no direct evidence that this is influencing the decision, and no one has suggested that it is. However, given that the promotion conversation changed shortly after I completed the milestones that had been discussed for the past year, I would be lying if I said I haven’t wondered whether my upcoming maternity leave could be playing a role in the hesitation without it being voiced for legal reasons.