'Talk to a lawyer': Company fires pregnant woman 12 hours before birth, creates perfect storm for a lawsuit

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Jan 21, 2024 6:00 PM EST

It is not uncommon to get fired for no reason in The United States. Sure, your boss might give you some cock-and-bull reason for firing you, but you often have no real way of knowing if that's the true reason for your termination. There are rare occurrences when somebody gets fired so carelessly at such a fraught time that it's blatantly apparent that they're being discriminated against. 

Recently, the mother of a pregnant woman went viral on Reddit for sharing her daughter's story. After nearly four years of working from home, her bosses called her into the office to work the day before her pregnancy was being induced. They didn't do that to give well wishes for her birth and maternity leave…oh no. They literally called her in to fire her. To top it all off, she and her husband work at the same company. What an absolute fumble. 

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  • 01
    r/antiwork u/slpwlkr03 14h My daughter is having her first child tomorrow morning...her company called her in this today and fired her at the end of her shift.
    via u/slpwlkr03
  • 02
    Just found out about an hour ago and she's going in the hospital to be induced 12 hours from now. She and her husband work(ed) for the same company and they're pretty upset. She's been working from home since the pandemic, so she actually had to make the commute today for the "send-off." I guess you can't pay for Super Bowl commercials when you're weighed down by pay maternity leave.
    via u/slpwlkr03
  • 03
    Data Dump. 14h Time to talk to a lawyer ... Reply 3.8k
    via u/DataDump_
  • 04
    R-Dragon_Thunderzord. 14h That's going to be a trip to an employment lawyer. Reply 414.2k ...
    via u/R-Dragon_Thunderzord
  • 05
    create3_14 13h Pregnant woman are a protected class ... 6.8k
    via u/create3_14
  • 06
    R-Dragon_Thunderzord 12h ● Yeppers. And protected classes are protected against at will employment terminations. They must show cause and the firing cannot be without warning. ... 3.9k
    via u/R-Dragon_Thunderzord
  • 07
    NCC1701-Enterprise. 12h That isn't true, you can still be fired for no reason, but if there is any indication the firing was linked to the protected class they are in for some trouble. 4 1.2k ↓
    via u/NCC1701-Enterprise
  • 08
    MarkPellicle • 12h Guys, the point is that IF the employer knew today was her last day working for some time and fired her before giving birth, she is likely a protected class. A judge is going to ask "employer x, why did you fire Jane Doe on the same day she was to take maternity leave?" Even if the employer has a spot on reason for firing her, a judge can make the decision to send a message to the employer that they can't do that. Employer is taking a huge risk by firing her before maternity l
    via u/MarkPellicle
  • 09
    DarkwingDuckHunt • 11h This screams of an instant settlement the second the corporate lawyer hears what management did. They won't even want this to get anywhere near the press if the corp is large enough, and apparently they do super bowl commercials so they're gonna be wary. 4 1.1k
    via u/DarkwingDuckHunt
  • 10
    Sir_Stash 12h ● Whoever decided to fire a pregnant woman 12 hours before being induced has to be a massive idiot. Even if you plan on firing that person, anyone with a tenth of a braincell knows that you wait until you're clear of being able to be sued for discriminating against a pregnant person. 4411 ...
    via u/Sir_Stash
  • 11
    skywaters88. 14h I mean that's the easiest winnable law suit for employees in every state. And if the husband works at the same place make sure you include they can't retaliate against him. Reply 4137 ...
    via u/skywaters88
  • 12
    WriteBrainedJR. 13h As much as we (rightfully) on MBAs, this is definitely something they would teach you not to do in MBA school. Not because it's wrong, of course, but because it opens up the company to a big fat lawsuit ... 341
    via u/WriteBrainedJR
  • 13
    BestMOTORing • 14h Nice. She can get herself a bag and extend her maternity leave indefinitely ... Reply ↑ 1k ↓
    via u/BestMOTORing
  • 14
    Apprehensive_Hat8986 12h ● Gonna cost them way more in legal fees than it would have to just pay maternity leave. 157
    via u/Apprehensive_Hat8986
  • 15
    HammeredPaint • 14h Idiots. Management is full of idiots. Reply 894
    via u/HammeredPaint

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getting fired antiwork pregnancy fired working from home toxic-workplace job fired story work working birth pregnant company toxic-work-environment
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