The lack of documented discipline against the employee before she disclosed her pregnancy raised a trial question over the true reason she was fired, the court said.
Dive Brief:
- A jury should hear a former HR business partner’s pregnancy discrimination claim against finance company Santander Consumer USA, a federal district court in Texas held Feb. 4 (Mathew v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc.). The worker produced evidence that the company engaged in a “sudden and unprecedented campaign to document [her] deficiencies” after she learned she was pregnant, a judge said.
- Shortly after the HR business partner informed a new supervisor she was pregnant, the director of HR suggested she be terminated, according to court documents. Santander placed her on a 30-day performance improvement plan and terminated her following a 90-day extension, citing work habits and time management issues.
- The HR business partner sued Santander for alleged pregnancy discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court granted summary judgment to Santander on the retaliation claim but held that a jury must decide the discrimination claim. Santander’s “lack of contemporaneously-created documentation” of the alleged performance issues raised a trial question over the true reason she was fired, the court said.
Dive Insight:
While recent focus has been on accommodating pregnant employees under the Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act, allegations of pregnancy-related discharge consistently stand out among charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an EEOC guidance notes.
Separate from the PWFA, Title VII, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, prohibits employers from firing, refusing to hire or taking “any other adverse action against a woman because she is pregnant, without regard to her ability to perform the duties of the job,” the guidance states.
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