A Dallas rehabilitation facility will pay $146,613 to settle charges that it unlawfully fired an employee because of her need for additional leave to recover from caesarean section, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Dallas-based Greenhouse Outpatient Center and its parent company, American Addiction Centers, agreed to pay the damages and provide other relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC.
The EEOC said the Dallas rehabilitation center had granted the pregnant employee, a behavioral health technician, a 30-day leave of absence for childbirth. After the employee delivered the baby by caesarean section, which requires abdominal surgery, the employee’s doctor indicated she needed eight weeks to recover before returning to work.
The employee was told her position could not be held open beyond the 30 days, however and she was fired, according to the EEOC’s suit. In contrast, the defendants had granted leave during the past 30 days to non-pregnant employees for reasons unrelated to pregnancy.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy in the workplace. In this case, the EEOC sought back pay, plus compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief, including an order barring similar violations in the future.
The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, Case No 3:19-CV-02302, after first attempting to reach a prelitigation settlement.
The two-year consent decree settling the suit prohibits future discrimination and retaliation and, in addition to the monetary relief, requires the employer to provide annual training regarding pregnancy and other forms of discrimination, and impose discipline, up to termination, on any manager who discriminates based on pregnancy or permits such conduct to occur under his or her supervision.
The decree also contains a provision noting that the defendants implemented a paid parental leave policy and general leave policy, and modified their existing personal leave policy, effective January 1. Among several changes reflected in these policies, the defendants’ new leave policies allow for leave in excess of 30 days.
Source: EEOC
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