Laid Off While Pregnant – Los Angeles Pregnancy Discrimination Attorney
Being pregnant can be a wonderful, yet challenging, time. There are physical symptoms and changes, like nausea, fatigue, back pain and endless others. Additionally, there are strong emotions, worries and new considerations to make. For some, pregnancy complicates careers as well.
Pregnant women have special rights in the workplace but even with those protections in place, employers still sometimes violate them.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 is an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employers from treating pregnant employees differently than nonpregnant employees. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act also covers those affected by childbirth and conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth.
There are many potential forms of pregnancy discrimination. When pregnancy, childbirth or a related condition are the reason for a negative employment action against an employee, it is pregnancy discrimination.
Some of the most common forms of pregnancy discrimination include being:
- Fired
- Laid off
- Not hired
- Demoted
- Passed over for a promotion
- Given a pay cut
- Stripped of benefits
- Denied reasonable accommodations
What If I Get Laid Off While Pregnant?
Layoffs can happen to anyone and sometimes even pregnant employees are not immune to them. If an employee is laid off while pregnant or on maternity leave, it is legal if it can be shown that they were laid off for a valid reason unrelated to the pregnancy.
For example, if a company must lay off employees according to their seniority due to budget cuts, and a pregnant woman was among those hired most recently, she can legally be laid off. The problem exists when the layoff is either stated or suspected to be because of the pregnancy.
If you suspect that you were laid off for reasons related to being pregnant or giving birth, you could take legal action against your employer. A successful discrimination case could lead to compensation for back pay, loss of future income as well as emotional distress damages. Punitive damages against the employer are ordered at times too, to discourage the employer from committing pregnancy discrimination again in the future.
Do I Need an Attorney?
To support a claim of pregnancy discrimination, there must be evidence to show that the pregnancy is most likely the reason the employer acted. Hard evidence of this would be the best to have but is not essential if circumstantial evidence demonstrates suspicious intent. An experienced employment discrimination attorney can help you collect relevant evidence to show that you were treated unfairly by your employer and apply the law to your case in a compelling way.
An attorney will be able to navigate the legal process, which is complicated and often confusing, with you and adhere to the strict guidelines that apply to these cases. Data shows that individuals who hire an attorney to handle their pregnancy discrimination case are often compensated more generously than those who do not.
Strong Advocates Can Help
If you think you have been laid off illegally because of your pregnancy, speak with a seasoned Los Angeles employment attorney as soon as possible to review the details of your situation and determine whether you have a valid case against your employer.
Please contact Strong Advocates for a complimentary legal case analysis. Call us at (800) 260-1495 or complete the online form on our website to find out how we can help you.
