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Forced resignation due to pregnancy

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D

droe77

Guest
North Carolina

Hi,

My wife works for a nursing home in North Carolina and just found out that she's about 8 weeks pregnant. Her doctor has told her that she may not lift more than 20-30 pounds while pregnant.

She is/was a Certified Nurse's Assistant, and upon telling her Director of Nursing, she was told that her employee could no longer employ her under that constraint, that there was no light duty for her to do for the duration ofher pregnancy, and that she needed to sign a resignation form stating that she was resigining for medical reasons/pregnancy.

My first though on this was that my wife made a crucial error by signing this form. I'm afraid that this form with her signature basically makes it appear as though she voluntarily resigned, and that there's no indication she was told she couldn't work there anymore.

1) Can her employer do that?
2) Did her signature on said form void any claim she may have been able to make?
 
Last edited:


Beth3

Senior Member
1) How long has your wife worked there?

2) Is there any evidence that a similarly situated employee who had a 6+ month weight restriction of 20 - 30 lbs for medical reasons other than pregnancy has been or would be treated differently (excepting worker's compensation situations)?

The key questions here are whether your wife (a) qualified for statutory leave and (b) whether she was treated differently than other employees have been because she is pregnant. Being pregnant doesn't entitle your wife to special treatment - just the same treatment other employees would receive under the employer's policies.
 

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