Archive for the ‘Pregnancy Discrimination’ Category

A New York waitress who was fired shortly after telling her managers that she started in-vitro fertilization did not establish sex discrimination claims because she failed to show that the stated reason for her discharge, which the company claimed was her poor performance, was pretextual.

In the case of Govori v. Goat Fifty LLC, the Second Circuit rejected the waitress’s contention that the close timing between her revelation that she was undergoing IVF treatment and her discharge was enough to rebut the restaurant’s legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for firing her.  The restaurant claimed that the waitress had a history of poor performance that culminated when she allegedly yelled at a customer on her last day of work.  Additionally, the waitress’s managers were already well aware that the waitress wished to become pregnant and was contemplating IVF before she announced that she had started IVF treatment.  In fact, her managers allegedly supported the waitress in her desire to become pregnant.  Thus, the court concluded that the waitress’s announcement that she was starting treatment was at most “her commencement of but one more step toward her previously announced but still uncertain goal of conceiving a child.”

Although the waitress alleged that her manager told her that she had chosen a different “path” during the telephone call in which the manager terminated the waitress, and that the different “path” referred to the “mommy track” or “mommy path,” the court found that the use of the word “path” could not plausibly be construed as a reference to the “mommy track”.  Rather the court reasoned that the comment about choosing another path was the sort of comment a friend might plausibly use as an attempt to soften the blow of firing an employee with whom she was close.

Because the court found that the waitress failed to refute that her poor performance was the cause of her termination, the court declined to address whether the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”) covers employees who allegedly are fired for undergoing IVF treatment.

This article is authored by attorney Shannon O. Young and is intended for educational purposes and to give you general information and a general understanding of the law only, not to provide specific legal advice. Any particular questions should be directed to your legal counsel or, if you do not have one, please feel free to contact us.

 

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In the case of Quinlan v. Elysian Hotel Co., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently held that a former public relations director at a Chicago hotel who was fired after returning from maternity leave can pursue a sex discrimination claim under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act based on comments allegedly made during her pregnancy.  The comments allegedly included a statement made by a female decisionmaker regarding it being difficult to balance work and be a “good mother.”

The court found that the alleged comment about it being difficult to balance work and be a good mother coupled with another comment about the employee being able to return to the public relations field “later in life” sufficient enough circumstantial evidence for a jury to find that discrimination may have influenced the hotel’s decision to fire the former employee.  In addition to the aforementioned comments, the plaintiff also alleged that during a shared cab ride another decisionmaker at the hotel told her that it was not a big deal if she did not want to return to work after her baby was born and that staying at home was a sacrifice she should make for her family.  Allegedly, that decisionmaker then proceeded to tell the plaintiff about the childcare difficulties that he and his wife faced as they started their own family.

After these comments were allegedly made, the hotel encountered financial difficulties and examined what positions it could eliminate.  It was suggested that the plaintiff’s position was not needed and her position was eliminated, which resulted in her termination.  Thereafter, the employee sued her former employer and the hotel moved to have the lawsuit dismissed through a summary judgment motion.

In denying the hotel’s summary judgment motion, the court found that although many of the alleged discriminatory comments were made during the former employee’s pregnancy, her claim really fell under the umbrella of sex/gender discrimination based on her status as a new mother.  In other words, the court said that the plaintiff seemed to be arguing that she was fired due to her supervisor’s illegal gender-stereotyping and assumption that women who are new mothers are not able to remain committed to their work and are better off staying at home with a young child.  The court found that although much time elapsed between the allegedly biased comments and the employment decision, thereby reducing the probative force of the remarks, a jury might find it acceptable, given the time lag for time off to give birth and potentially further maternity leave.  In any event, the court found that the former employee presented facts upon which a reasonable jury might find that the hotel discriminated against her based upon its view that new mothers cannot (or are less able to) do the job.

This case serves as a good example how employers should be careful ever careful not to make comments that may later be viewed as discriminatory and to train their supervisors/decisionmakers to avoid such pitfalls.  The employment and labor law attorneys at Harmon & Davies are here to assist employers with such training.

This article is authored by attorney Shannon O. Young and is intended for educational purposes and to give you general information and a general understanding of the law only, not to provide specific legal advice. Any particular questions should be directed to your legal counsel or, if you do not have one, please feel free to contact us.

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In the matter of Blake v. Purolite Corp. et al., the plaintiff filed a pregnancy discrimination case in the United State District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania wherein she alleged that she was terminated because of her pregnancy in violation of her rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.   After a four day trial, the jury found that the plaintiff’s pregnancy was a determinative factor in the defendant’s decision to terminate her employment and returned a verdict in her favor.  Specifically, the jury awarded the plaintiff compensatory damages in the amount of $25,000.00 and punitive damages in the amount of $125,000.  Additionally, the Court later issued a memorandum stating that the plaintiff was also entitled to $11,098.12 in back pay.

Pregnancy discrimination cases appear to be on the rise.  The attorneys at Harmon & Davies are here to assist employers with pregnancy discrimination charges.

This article is authored by attorney Shannon O. Young and is intended for educational purposes and to give you general information and a general understanding of the law only, not to provide specific legal advice. Any particular questions should be directed to your legal counsel or, if you do not have one, please feel free to contact us.

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