Just a few months ago, we blogged about the ongoing discrimination faced female employees when they get pregnant. Again, the law is clear on this point: Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discriminating against pregnant women is an expressly unlawful form of gender discrimination. In other words, don’t do it. The law makes clear that working women do not have to choose between their jobs and having a baby. Although it is a simple enough concept, employers keep finding ways to screw this simple mandate up.
In this update of stupid employers, let’s look at the unlawful pregnancy discrimination asserted against dELiA*s Inc., a specialty retailer primarily targeting teenage girls. According the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit, this employer harassed two female employees who became pregnant; and then forced one of the pregnant woman to take maternity leave early while firing the other pregnant worker, who complained about the unlawful gender discrimination. The harassment included repeatedly questioning their ability to do their jobs as well as making comments about their pregnancy. Specifically, Nicole Young, a fashion representative, was terminated in retaliation for complaining about the discrimination and Mallory Martin, a co-manager, was forced to take early maternity leave due to the harassment even though she was able to continue working.
The idiocy of such discrimination is highlighted by doing it to two pregnant women at once. It is hard for an employer to dispute its discriminatory intent when it keeps doing it to multiple pregnant workers.
The tab for these pregnancy discrimination violations? $75,000 in settlement and having to pay to retrain all the managers at dELiA*s 100 stores on pregnancy discrimination.
According to Glassdoor, a full time fashion representative at dELiA*s makes $14,875 per year; and a co-manager makes $38,690 per year. So, conclusion of this saga is that by discriminating against pregnant employees, dELiA*s is paying each employee well over a year’s earnings.
If you are facing discrimination or harassment simply because you are pregnant, protect your legal rights — call the right attorney. Employers cannot harass, fire, wrongfully terminate, discriminate against, demote, or wrongfully discipline a female employee just because she got pregnant. When you call the right attorney to schedule a free and confidential consultation at 866-797-6040, you will meet with an attorney from Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm to discuss wrongful discrimination claims and help you determine the best way to pursue your gender/sex discrimination claims. Our pregnancy discrimination lawyers know your rights and will fight to protect them.
Disclaimer:
The materials available at this employment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Your best option is to contact an Ohio attorney to obtain advice with respect to pregnancy discrimination questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm or any individual attorney.