California Labor Attorney: Pregnancy Discrimination Not Rare

Hollywood, CA Even in an at-will employment state like California, where employment can be terminated for any reason - or no reason - firings for discriminatory reasons are illegal. Zack Broslavsky, attorney at Broslavsky & Weinman, LLP, currently represents a woman who alleges her termination violates pregnancy discrimination laws. The good news for California employees who are terminated for discriminatory reasons is that wrongful termination lawsuits can be filed to recover lost wages, future lost earnings and emotional distress.

According to Broslavsky, his client was an employee at a Walgreens in Hollywood when she became pregnant. The client worked at the Upmarket Café, performing customer service duties, making sandwiches and smoothies, and cleaning up.

“She was terminated for drinking a smoothie without paying. The manager called this employee - not my client - into the office of the Loss Prevention Officer and accused the employee of stealing cash and other items. The employee said that she had never stolen anything. They then told her they knew she once drank a smoothie and didn’t pay. She admitted she had once tasted a smoothie and poured it out but that was because the smoothie didn’t taste right. This employee was then told that if she wrote a statement admitting to drinking the smoothie they would help her keep her job. She agreed and as soon as she signed the statement, she was terminated on the spot.”

A few months after this incident, Broslavsky’s client became pregnant. Initially, Broslavsky says, she was afraid to tell her boss, concerned that the previous termination had been because of her coworker’s pregnancy. Eventually, however, she had to disclose her pregnancy. When she was around six months pregnant, she was allegedly taken into the Loss Prevention Officer’s office and accused of taking drugs.

“They wanted her to sign a statement that she took drugs but she refused, saying she did not use drugs and especially had not done so while she was pregnant,” Broslavsky says. “Even though she refused to sign the statement, she offered to take a drug test but they said no to the test. They continued to try to convince her to sign the statement and she continued to refuse, so they sent her home, suspended her and told her she’d be investigated.”

According to Broslavsky, a week after her suspension, his client phoned her employers and was told she was still under investigation. She then went back to the store and was allegedly told she was fired for creating a hostile work environment. She very quickly found a lawyer and filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination against her employers. Broslavsky says that the lawsuit is still in the early stages and he has witnesses who will testify his client was fired for being pregnant.

Unfortunately, Broslavsky also says pregnancy discrimination complaints are not rare. In fact, he’s working on other cases alleging pregnancy discrimination. One positive is that if there is some evidence someone was fired for pregnancy, the burden is on the employer to prove there was another reason for the firing.

It is important for employees to remember that just because they work in an at-will state, that does not mean their employer can fire them for discriminatory reasons. In such cases, lawsuits can be filed against employers alleging the termination violates employment laws.

Broslavsky’s client is seeking damages for lost income, wages and emotional distress. Given the circumstances of her case, she is not seeking reinstatement to her job.