A jury in California has awarded a mother over $185 million in damages after it found that she had been discriminated against before her wrongful termination. According to the Nov. 19 news, the woman filed a gender discrimination and pregnancy case against her former employer, AutoZone, because she was demoted and fired due to her pregnancy.
The situation started in 2005. That the time, she had been a store manager for a year at the local National City, California, AutoZone. At the time, she told the district manager that she was pregnant and received what she thought was an odd response. She stated that he said, “I feel sorry for you. Congratulations.”
After she reported her pregnancy, she claims her list of tasks doubled. She was still meeting her sales targets, but she was berated at work. He allegedly continued to tell her that she was unable to perform well in her pregnant state.
After she revealed her pregnancy, she worked some months as the manager before being demoted. Then, a year later, she filed a complaint with the State of California. A year following that, she was fired. The trial focused on the gender discrimination she faced; one former district manager described a meeting that took place with high-level executives of the company. At that meeting, they had rejoiced over the expiration of a settlement agreement requiring the company to promote women and to track their progress within the company.
If this situation sounds like yours, you don’t have to stay silent. Speak up; no laws allow your employer to treat you with disrespect or to degrade you while working.
Source: Record Searchlight, “Jury awards mother more than $185M in damages in pregnancy discrimination case against AutoZone” Michael Chen, Nov. 19, 2014