Missouri Construction Company to Pay $38K to Settle Pregnancy Discrimination Suit

A St. Louis, Mo.-based construction company that revoked an applicant’s job offer after learning she was pregnant will settle a federal discrimination lawsuit for $38,000.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says The Harlan Company also will furnish other relief to settle the suit, in which the EEOC charged that the firm violated federal discrimination law by failing to hire a job applicant for a receptionist position in June 2019 because she was pregnant.

According to the EEOC, the company interviewed the applicant and decided she was the best qualified person for an open receptionist position. The company offered the applicant the job and she accepted. The following day, the company learned she was pregnant. One day later, it revoked the job offer and hired another individual who was not pregnant.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The applicant filed a charge with the EEOC after learning of the alleged discrimination from an outside recruiter. The EEOC filed its lawsuit (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. The Harlan Company, Civil Action No. 4:20-cv-1395-AGF) in September 2020 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

The three-year consent decree entered by Judge Audrey G. Fleissig requires The Harlan Company to pay lost wages and compensatory damages to the individual. In addition to other relief, the company will implement policies and procedures prohibiting pregnancy discrimination; amend its job application and website to prohibit pregnancy discrimination; provide training to its management employees; and report complaints of pregnancy discrimination to the EEOC.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Construction Missouri