Job Candidate’s Job Offer Revoked After Employer Learned She Was Pregnant EEOC Lawsuit Claims
In a press release issued on September 30, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it has filed a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against The Harlan Company (Harlan). On September 29, 2020, the EEOC filed the case, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. The Harlan Company,Case No. 4:20-cv-01395, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District District of Missouri after first trying to correct the alleged unlawful employment practices based on pregnancy through conciliation efforts. Unable to resolve the case through conciliation, the EEOC moved forward with attempting to remedy the alleged unlawful employment practices based on pregnancy by filing the lawsuit.
The EEOC has filed the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA), on behalf of an individual who applied for employment with Harlan, Hollie Beck (Beck). Title VII, as amended by the PDA, makes it an unlawful employment practice for employers to discriminate against job applicants and employees on the basis of pregnancy. The EEOC claims that Harlan violated Title VII, as amended by the PDA, by refusing to hire Beck because she was pregnant. In this article, our Citrus County, Florida pregnancy discrimination lawyers explain the EEOC’s allegations of pregnancy discrimination against Harlan.
Candidate Not Hired Because Pregnant
Harlan is a construction company based in Missouri. In May 2019, Beck applied for a receptionist position at Harlan through a staffing agency, Westport One Recruiting (Westport One). Beck, according to the EEOC, was qualified for the position. At the time she applied for the job, Beck was pregnant.
On May 31, 2019, Harlan interviewed Beck in person for the receptionist position. On June 3, 2019, Harlan offered Beck the receptionist position. After receiving the job offer, Beck resigned her job at a Subway restaurant and accepted the job with Beck. On June 4, 2019, Harlan confirmed Beck’s start date. On June 5, 2019, the recruiter at Westport One told Harlan that Beck was pregnant.
On June 6, 2019, the day after learning that Beck was pregnant, Harlan revoked Beck’s job offer because she was pregnant. Harlan’s office manager expressed concern that Beck would miss work due to her pregnancy and would have to be retrained. After revoking Beck’s job offer, Harlan then hired an individual who was not pregnant for the receptionist position. The EEOC claims that Harlan violated Title VII, as amended by the PDA, by refusing to hire Beck because she was pregnant.
Pregnant Employees’ Rights
The EEOC is the administrative agency of the United States responsible for interpreting and enforcing federal employment laws making the failure or refusal to hire pregnant job applicants an unlawful employment practice. In order to correct unlawful employment practices, the EEOC is authorized by federal law to bring lawsuits on behalf of pregnancy discrimination victims. In a press release issued by the EEOC on September 30 2020 regarding the case, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office, Andrea G. Baran, observed “hiring discrimination is one of the most difficult types of employment discrimination to eliminate because applicants usually do not know the reason they were not selected for hire.” “But here a person involved in the hiring process,” Ms. Baran explained, “had the courage to step forward and tell the truth about why the worker’s job offer was revoked.” Ms. Baran added that “justice depends on the voices of good people who are willing to stand up for what is right.”
Inverness, FL Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyers
Based in Ocala, Florida and representing employees throughout Central Florida, our Citrus County, Florida pregnancy discrimination attorneys have represented Florida employees against abusive employment practices for more than twenty years. If you have been discriminated against on the basis of pregnancy or have questions about your rights as a victim of pregnancy discrimination, please contact our office for a free consultation with our Inverness, Florida pregnancy discrimination lawyers. Our employee rights law firm takes pregnancy discrimination cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that there are no attorney’s fees incurred unless there is a recovery and our attorney’s fees come solely from the monetary award that you recover.
