Fired for Being Pregnant

[ultraborn]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Hello, I work at a Vietnamese based restaurant. Recently, about a month or two ago, a girl had gotten pregnant who is a coworker of mine. The boss, in finding out that she was pregnant, fired her and claimed that it was for safety reasons. However, I feel this is extremely unfair and hypocritical seeing as his own wife worked there during her first pregnancy and is working there during her current one (due in 2 months). When she was fired, I saw her burst into tears and it was a terrible thing to see someone burst into tears like that simply because she decided to keep her baby. Is there anything wrong and illegal about this?

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Hello, I work at a Vietnamese based restaurant. Recently, about a month or two ago, a girl had gotten pregnant who is a coworker of mine. The boss, in finding out that she was pregnant, fired her and claimed that it was for safety reasons. However, I feel this is extremely unfair and hypocritical seeing as his own wife worked there during her first pregnancy and is working there during her current one (due in 2 months). When she was fired, I saw her burst into tears and it was a terrible thing to see someone burst into tears like that simply because she decided to keep her baby. Is there anything wrong and illegal about this?

Yes, firing someone solely due to pregnancy is considered discrimination. However, as you said, she was told that it was for safety reasons. What was the alleged the safety issue? Would someone who was NOT pregnant have been fired for the same safety concerns?

I'd like to know if you learned this information based on what she told you, or if you have firsthand knowledge (as in, were you a witness to what transpired and the conversation between your friend and the boss)? If your rendition of the events is based on what SHE told you, then it's possible she isn't telling you the entire truth. Given that the boss' wife has previously worked while pregnant, and is currently working while pregnant now, it seems unlikely that the pregnancy itself is the sole reason for her termination.

Why don't you have your friend sign up here so that we can get the full story from her?

 

[swalsh411]

How many employees work at the restaurant?

 

[Hot Topic]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Hello, I work at a Vietnamese based restaurant. Recently, about a month or two ago, a girl had gotten pregnant who is a coworker of mine. The boss, in finding out that she was pregnant, fired her and claimed that it was for safety reasons. However, I feel this is extremely unfair and hypocritical seeing as his own wife worked there during her first pregnancy and is working there during her current one (due in 2 months). When she was fired, I saw her burst into tears and it was a terrible thing to see someone burst into tears like that simply because she decided to keep her baby. Is there anything wrong and illegal about this?

What you "feel" is irrelevant. What you should be concerned with is if firing her was illegal. Your comment that it was terrible to see her burst into tears "simply because she decided to keep her baby" was outrageous. What's wrong with YOU

 

[cbg]

And when the poster comes back and answers swalsh's question, we'll be able to tell if it was illegal or not.

 

[Betty]

California pregnancy discrimination laws apply to employers with 5 or more employees during 20 or more consecutive work weeks in the current or preceding year. (under the FEHA) EEOC pregnancy discrimination laws applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

Although firing an employee because of her pregnancy can still be a violation of the California constitution as against public policy even if the FEHA does not apply.

It would be best if the employee fired would post & with complete information re her termination. It also would be nice/best to know the # of employees the employer has regardless of the above info.

 

[ultraborn]

Hello,
I am sorry for such a late reply and for such a long period of absence. He has about 30+ employees (although a lot of them are paid under the table). This was not something I was told by her but from what I knew about the situation. Also, I asked him why she was fired and it was him who stated it was for "safety reasons".

On a totally different topic, what would I be able to do if that employer is stealing over 64,000 dollars in tips a year? We are forced to participate in a tip pooling program and he distributes about 15-20 dollars to 4-5 employees. On a couple of occasions, we counted the tips ourselves and calculated it and determined each employee should have gotten about 45-50 dollars. We then confronted him and he claimed that the kitchen people get tips as well although we had never seen them get handed any sort of tips. As a result, we asked the kitchen if they got tips and they stated that they did not. We went back to our employer and he claimed that tips were added to their paycheck. We then went and asked the kitchen if tips got added to their pay in which they replied no. As a result of this frustration, I decided to confront our employer and secretly record the conversation. The conversation consisted of much run around, saying the kitchen doesn't know they get tips, and that if I did not like the way he ran his business, then I was free to leave. During the conversation, another employee stepped in and said "I think what he wants to know is why the kitchen doesn't know that they are supposed to get tips," in which he replied, "Because I don't want them to know or else they are going to expect. They are going to expect more." What I want to know is whether or not my recording is enough to substantiate our claims and is good enough to establish that he is stealing our tips. Is it possible to recollect all the tip money he has stolen from us? If anyone would like to listen to the recording, I am more than happy to post it.

 

[Proserpina]

Hello,
I am sorry for such a late reply and for such a long period of absence. He has about 30+ employees (although a lot of them are paid under the table). This was not something I was told by her but from what I knew about the situation. Also, I asked him why she was fired and it was him who stated it was for "safety reasons".

On a totally different topic, what would I be able to do if that employer is stealing over 64,000 dollars in tips a year? We are forced to participate in a tip pooling program and he distributes about 15-20 dollars to 4-5 employees. On a couple of occasions, we counted the tips ourselves and calculated it and determined each employee should have gotten about 45-50 dollars. We then confronted him and he claimed that the kitchen people get tips as well although we had never seen them get handed any sort of tips. As a result, we asked the kitchen if they got tips and they stated that they did not. We went back to our employer and he claimed that tips were added to their paycheck. We then went and asked the kitchen if tips got added to their pay in which they replied no. As a result of this frustration, I decided to confront our employer and secretly record the conversation. The conversation consisted of much run around, saying the kitchen doesn't know they get tips, and that if I did not like the way he ran his business, then I was free to leave. During the conversation, another employee stepped in and said "I think what he wants to know is why the kitchen doesn't know that they are supposed to get tips," in which he replied, "Because I don't want them to know or else they are going to expect. They are going to expect more." What I want to know is whether or not my recording is enough to substantiate our claims and is good enough to establish that he is stealing our tips. Is it possible to recollect all the tip money he has stolen from us? If anyone would like to listen to the recording, I am more than happy to post it.

California is an all-party consent state when it comes to recording conversations. Did you have permission from EVERYBODY being recorded?

 

[cbg]

To respond to your initial question, it is a violation of both state and Federal law to fire someone because she is pregnant. He has more than the requisite employees to be subject to the regs. "Safety reasons" is nonsense. Unless he can articulate a specific safety rule that your friend was violating and that he fired her for the violation of the rule, "safety reasons" is not going to fly as a valid reason for firing her. She is encouraged to file a complaint with the CA DFEH and/or the Federal EEOC.

With regards to the tip issue, unless every single person you recorded INCLUDING THE EMPLOYER gave you permission to record them, your recording is worthless. What you can do is file a complaint with the CA DLSE and let them take it from there.

 

[commentator]

And the friend who was fired needs to file for unemployment benefits immediately. She can draw unemployment insurance benefits after being fired without a good misconduct reason, and pregnancy is not a factor unless she removes herself from the labor force (I can't look for other jobs because I am pregnant.)