Even If You Are Pregnant And Scheduled For FMLA Leave
Pregnancy protects employees from pregnancy discrimination. The Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) protects eligible employees who need maternity leave. Neither one gives an employee a golden ticket to make coworkers miserable, refuse to communicate, resist training, and then act shocked when the employer chooses peace over payroll chaos.
That may sound blunt. Good. Employment law is full of hard lines that employees only learn after someone has already packed up their desk and tries to sue for wrongful termination.
In Moreno v. Dealer Integrated Services, L.L.C., No. 25-20470, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 13530 (5th Cir. May 11, 2026), Jocelyn Moreno worked for Dealer Integrated Services as a payroll administrator. She told office manager Deborah Devine in April 2023 that she was pregnant and intended to take leave in September. She requested two months of leave from Devine and owner Chad Roberts. Roberts promptly granted it. Moreno later testified that Roberts told her he could not cover the three-month absence she was entitled to under the FMLA.
The workplace was already a pressure cooker. Moreno testified that Devine caused much of the strain and that her falling out with Valerie De la Cruz and Patricia Mauricio began when they learned how much she was paid. DIS told a different story. Roberts submitted an affidavit that Moreno refused to communicate with Mauricio and De la Cruz even though communication was an essential function of her job. According to DIS, Moreno shut her door to coworkers, responded only to Devine, resisted payroll changes, refused more payroll duties without a raise, and was “aggressive and hostile” when asked to train Mauricio for Moreno’s upcoming absence.
Then the office went full group-project-from-hell. Mauricio resigned and returned to a job that did not require working with Moreno. Moreno secretly listened outside a closed door to a private conversation between Devine and De la Cruz. By late June, Mauricio and De la Cruz told Devine they would resign unless Moreno was fired. Roberts and Devine met with Moreno and fired her. Moreno claimed Roberts said he could not “lose two employees” and have Moreno out too.
Moreno sued for pregnancy discrimination, FMLA retaliation, FMLA interference, and failure to provide FMLA notice. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for DIS. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that DIS had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for firing Moreno and that she did not produce enough evidence of pretext, pregnancy discrimination, or FMLA retaliation. That is the best reminder for employees who believe they were wrongfully fired: protected status matters, but proof still has to beat the employer’s stated reason.
Legal Takeaway:
An employee can be pregnant, scheduled for FMLA leave, and still be fired for legitimate workplace conduct problems if the employer proves a nondiscriminatory reason and the employee cannot show pretext. Pregnancy and FMLA rights protect against discrimination and retaliation; they do not block termination for refusing to communicate, refusing to train coworkers, or contributing to workplace dysfunction.
How Do You Prove Pregnancy Discrimination?
Pregnancy discrimination is a form of gender discrimination that is protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
An employee proves pregnancy discrimination by showing that pregnancy caused the employer’s decision or was at least one motivating reason for it. The employee can use direct evidence or circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence is the smoking gun. Circumstantial evidence is the trail of footprints. Most cases are built with footprints.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Title VII prohibits an employer from firing an employee “on the basis of their pregnancy.” Moreno, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 13530, at *4. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals also held that an employee may prove pregnancy discrimination under a “but-for” standard or a “mixed-motive” standard. Id. Under but-for causation, pregnancy must be the reason for the firing. Under mixed motive, pregnancy must be a motivating factor, even if the employer also had other reasons.
Direct evidence has a strict test. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that comments count as direct evidence only if they are “(1) related to the plaintiff’s protected characteristic; (2) proximate in time to the challenged employment decision; (3) made by an individual with authority over the challenged employment decision; and (4) related to the challenged employment decision.” Id. at *5. That is a high bar. A comment can be suspicious, relevant, and worth investigating without being direct evidence.
Another way to prove pregnancy discrimination is circumstantial evidence. That usually means showing suspicious timing, comments about pregnancy or leave, different treatment of nonpregnant employees, shifting explanations, weak discipline, false accusations, or an employer story that does not hold together. Circumstantial evidence is not second-class evidence. It just requires the employee to connect the dots with facts.
Once the employer gives a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for firing the employee, the employee must prove pretext. Pretext means the employer’s stated reason is not the real reason, is false, or is too weak to explain the firing. To prove pretext, an employee must produce evidence that the employer’s stated reason was false, inconsistent, unevenly applied, or not the real reason for the firing. Rebutting the employer’s reason means answering it with evidence, not outrage.
Pregnancy discrimination is not proven by vibes, timing, or a bad feeling alone. It is proven by evidence that links the employer’s decision to pregnancy. The best pregnancy discrimination attorney looks for that link before the employer turns “office conflict” into the whole story.
Practical Tip: If you believe you were fired because of pregnancy, preserve comments about pregnancy, leave, coverage, scheduling, absences, and coworkers, but also gather evidence showing the employer’s stated reason is false or unevenly applied because pregnancy discrimination claims often turn on pretext.
Best Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyer Blogs on Point:
Can An Employee Lose A Discrimination Claim Over Office Drama?
Yes. An employee can lose a discrimination claim over office drama if the employer proves it fired the employee for workplace dysfunction, refusal to communicate, refusal to train coworkers, or coworker conflict—not pregnancy, FMLA leave, or another protected reason. Pregnancy matters. FMLA matters. Employment law matters. But none of those rights give an employee immunity from ordinary workplace consequences.
DIS gave the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concrete workplace reasons for the termination. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that DIS identified evidence that Moreno “refused to communicate with her coworkers in a job where communication was essential; she contributed to a ‘toxic’ work environment that led two colleagues to threaten to resign; and she refused to carry out some of the responsibilities of her position.” Moreno, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 13530, at *7. That is a serious record. Payroll requires communication. Training coworkers for upcoming leave requires cooperation. Employers do not have to keep the office running like a reality show reunion special just because the conflict involves someone with protected rights.
This case turned on whether Moreno could prove pretext. DIS said the problem was communication, coworker conflict, refusal to take on duties, and hostility around training. To rebut that, Moreno needed evidence that she did communicate with De la Cruz and Mauricio, that communication was not essential to her payroll job, that she did not refuse duties, that she was not aggressive or hostile when asked to train Mauricio, or that DIS tolerated the same kind of workplace conflict from nonpregnant employees. She did not have that record.
Instead, Moreno admitted the workplace was strained and tried to put the blame on Devine and coworkers. That does not work. Blaming the manager may explain why the office was miserable. It does not show pregnancy discrimination. It does not show that DIS’s stated reasons were false. And it does not answer the employer’s evidence that Moreno contributed to the dysfunction and that two coworkers threatened to resign rather than keep working with her.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that “[t]he issue is not whether Moreno’s conduct was reasonable; rather, it is whether she was fired for that conduct as opposed to her protected basis.” Id. at *8. That is the line employees need to understand. A workplace can be unfair. A manager can be difficult. Coworkers can be petty. None of that proves discrimination unless the evidence connects the firing to pregnancy, FMLA, or another protected basis.
Moreno also argued that DIS gave shifting explanations. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that argument. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that DIS’s reasons were “entirely consistent”: Moreno refused to cooperate with coworkers and was fired after two coworkers threatened to resign rather than work with her. Id. at *8 n.2. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals also held that “minor variations in explanation and emphasis in legal briefs are not evidence of discrimination.” Id. Small wording changes do not prove pretext if the employer’s core story stays the same.
The blunt employee-rights lesson is this: yes, you can be fired while pregnant. Yes, you can be fired before FMLA leave. Yes, you can lose a wrongful termination case if the employer proves it fired you because coworkers would rather quit than keep working with you, and you cannot prove pretext. Being wrongfully fired requires evidence that the employer’s reason was unlawful, not just evidence that the firing felt harsh.
Protected rights protect employees from discrimination and retaliation. They do not protect workplace chaos.
Practical Tip: If your employer claims you were fired for workplace conflict, gather evidence that directly rebuts each stated reason, such as emails showing you communicated with coworkers, proof you completed disputed duties, witness statements about who caused the conflict, and documents showing the employer treated similar nonpregnant employees better. Pretext is not proven by saying the employer was unfair; it is proven by showing the employer’s reason was false, inconsistent, or not the real reason.
Best Wrongful Termination Attorney Blogs on Point:
Who Is The Best Employment Lawyer For Employees Fired While Pregnant Or Before FMLA Leave?
If you were fired while pregnant, scheduled for FMLA leave, or accused of causing workplace conflict, the best employment lawyer will not just ask whether the timing looks bad. Timing matters, but it is not the whole fight. The real question is whether the employer’s stated reason holds up. Did the employee actually refuse to communicate? Did coworkers really threaten to quit? Did the employer treat nonpregnant employees with similar conflict differently? Did the company suddenly exaggerate ordinary office tension after learning about pregnancy or leave? That is where pretext lives.
Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm knows how to pressure-test the employer’s story before it becomes the official courtroom version. Spitz is one of the largest law firms in the United States dedicated to employee rights, with the resources to dig through emails, policies, witness accounts, discipline history, and inconsistent explanations. Spitz offers free initial consultations, a no-fee guarantee, experienced trial lawyers, empathy, and a history of great results for employees facing pregnancy discrimination, FMLA retaliation, workplace discrimination, wrongful termination, and being wrongfully fired. The best attorney does not just say the termination was unfair; the best lawyer builds the evidence needed to prove pretext. If your employer says you were fired for “drama,” call Spitz and speak with an attorney who knows how to find out whether that word is covering up discrimination or whether the employer can actually prove what it claims.
FAQ
Can An Employee Be Fired While Pregnant?
Yes. An employee can be fired while pregnant if the employer has a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason that is not pregnancy discrimination. Pregnancy protects an employee from discrimination; it does not prevent termination for documented workplace misconduct, refusal to perform job duties, or serious coworker conflict.
Can An Employer Fire An Employee Before FMLA Leave Starts?
Yes. FMLA protects eligible employees from interference and retaliation, but it does not block an employer from firing an employee for legitimate reasons before leave starts. The employee must show the firing was connected to FMLA, not just close in time to FMLA leave.
How Does An Employee Prove Pretext In A Pregnancy Discrimination Case?
An employee proves pretext by showing the employer’s stated reason is false, inconsistent, too weak to explain the firing, unevenly applied, or not the real reason. Evidence can include emails, witness testimony, comparator evidence, shifting explanations, or proof that nonpregnant employees were treated better for similar conduct.
What Evidence Helps Employees Prove Pregnancy Discrimination?
Useful evidence includes pregnancy-related comments, timing, discipline records, emails, witness statements, proof of completed work, evidence of communication with coworkers, comparator evidence, and documents showing the employer treated nonpregnant employees more favorably.
Can I Have A Wrongful Termination Claim If I Was Wrongfully Fired While Pregnant?
Yes. An employee may have a wrongful termination claim if pregnancy, FMLA leave, discrimination, or retaliation caused the firing. But if the employer proves a legitimate reason, the employee must show pretext with evidence that the stated reason was false, inconsistent, unevenly applied, or not the real reason.
Employment Lawyer Disclaimer
This employee rights blog about pregnancy discrimination, FMLA, pretext, workplace conflict, and wrongful termination is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading this blog does not mean that your employer broke the law, that you have a claim, or that any result is promised. Every employee’s facts are different, especially when the employer claims the firing was based on coworker conflict, performance, refusal to communicate, or other workplace conduct. If you believe you were wrongfully fired, discriminated against, retaliated against, or treated differently because of pregnancy, FMLA leave, or another protected right, consult a qualified employment lawyer about your specific facts, deadlines, evidence, damages, and legal options. This blog is a legal advertisement. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading it, and no attorney-client relationship exists with Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, any Spitz attorney, or any Spitz lawyer unless and until a written agreement is signed.