Wrongful Termination-Pregnancy

[katiesmommy05]

I was notified last week that due to a layoff I would no longer be employed after April 20. I am 36 weeks pregnant right now. I was not the last person hired for the same position but I do make more money than the other employee because I have a master's degree instead of a bachelor's degree. Is that enough for them to justify firing me instead of firing him? I know I was fired because I am pregnant, but I don't know how difficult that would be to prove. To complicate matters, I live in Florida which has virtually NO labor laws to protect the employee.

 

[Duranie]

It is not against the law to lay off a pregnant woman. The economy is ina recession right now and lots of people are losing their jobs. Are they giving you any severance? After your severence runs out you should be able to file for unemployment.

 

[cbg]

You cannot be selected for layoff BECAUSE you are pregnant.

You can, however, be selected for layoff IN SPITE OF being pregnant. Pregnancy is not a get out of jail free card.

If you would have been the one selected for layoff if you were not pregnant, then it is not illegal to select you for layoff in spite of being pregnant. It only makes sense, if there are financial problems within the company and one of two employees have to go, to select the one with the higher salary.

 

[katiesmommy05]

Left with a piece of paper and a two week notice.

Actually, there wasn't any kind of severance anything.. they fed-exed a letter to my home stating that in less than 2 weeks I would no longer be employed. When I asked about the 40 hours of personal time that I had remaining, they said that they don't do that. And, they don't legally have to do that. As a fairly intelligent person, I understand that Florida laws regarding employment are primarily to support the employer, but I just never expected to be "laid-off" in my last couple of weeks of pregnancy. As far as the personal time goes, the human resources supervisor told me that the only thing I could do was ask my boss to put me in for a vacation this week and stay home. I did that, and they finally decided to at least give me the money for the hours that I had left in personal time rather than take a vacation during one of my last two weeks. They offered instead to add those hours to my last check. However, I was told that over the phone, so I know it's possible for them to shaft me later.

 

[cbg]

Severance is not required by law in Florida (or in most states, and only in limited circumstances in the remaining few). Florida law does not require the payout of any unused vacation or personal time.

I don't know what else to tell you.

If you believe that the sole reason you were selected for layoff is because of your pregnancy, you can file a claim with the EEOC (assuming that your employer has 15 or more employees). But it's as you were told above; you cannot be selected for layoff BECAUSE you are pregnant, but you can be selected for layoff IN SPITE OF being pregnant.