Allegations of pregnancy discrimination involve a variety of jobs and behaviors. Here are examples described by the Oklahoma EEOC office without identifying information and Oklahoma cases filed in federal court.
> A pregnant nurse said she gave her employer a doctor’s note stating she could not lift more than 20 pounds. The employer refused to make accommodations, telling her she had to take unpaid leave from work. The nurse filed an EEOC complaint.
> A Checotah Walmart employee, Shayla Britt, alleged in a lawsuit that a manager asked if she was pregnant and the next day she was fired for violating a policy for which she received no training and that co-workers had violated without termination, she said. A Walmart corporate spokesman told Oklahoma Watch in an email, “We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind and take these types of claims seriously. The matter was resolved by mutual agreement and the case has been dismissed.” Court records show no admission of fault by Walmart.
Read the main story: Getting Pregnant, Getting Fired
> Marsha Bailey, a receptionist at an Oklahoma City hardware company, alleged in a lawsuit that her boss responded to news of her pregnancy by asking when she planned to quit. She said she had no plans to quit. When Bailey was six months pregnant, her hours were slashed, making her ineligible for medical benefits, she alleged in court filings. Her boss at Scovil and Sides Hardware Co. explained in court filings that he assumed she would not work full-time after having her baby. The woman filed an EEOC complaint and said when her boss learned about it, he retaliated by minimizing her job, such as revoking her access to needed computer programs. She said co-workers and other supervisors began to avoid or ignore her. When she returned from maternity leave, she told a supervisor that co-workers still refused to speak to her. She said she was asked to resign. She sued, and the case was settled. Court records show no admission of a violation by the company.
> Nicole Stone of Tulsa, a parts delivery driver for Glover Nissan LLC, alleged in a lawsuit that she was in her first trimester when she was fired and told to spend her last week training her replacement, who had been fired from the company a week earlier for being late and frequently taking days off, Stone said. Stone sued in 2017, and a settlement conference is scheduled in June. Reached by phone, dealership owner Jim Glover denied the allegations, saying Stone’s firing “had nothing to do with her being pregnant. We’re just not that kind of organization.”
