Discriminatory Termination

[TAWsn480496139]

In a right to work state, someone I know was recently laid off. As far as she knows, she was the only person to be let go, but she has no way of knowing for sure because of the size of the company. This is a very large company with more than 10,000 employees. She had been employed with this company for well over a decade and was in a management role. She had her first child a few months ago and was recently back to work off of maternity leave. Here is where things get interesting: she is the third woman in her small group to be terminated (laid off) within weeks of returning from maternity leave. She was offered a small severance, but has not completely accepted it yet. Is there legal recourse here to pursue discriminatory action or a civil settlement greater than her severance?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

If the company is in fact terminating females after they have children and they are doing it because they have children then she would have a case.

She might want to have a chat with the other two and do a little research it see if there are others in other groups.

This needs to be the last post you make about "someone you know's" legal issues.

 

[Taxing Matters]

The phrase "right to work" means you cannot be forced to join a union to get the job. The term "at will employment" means that both employer and employee may terminate the employment arrangement at any time for just about any reason. For employers there are some reasons that they cannot use for terminating an employee. One of those reasons under federal law is that an employer may not fire an employee because of her sex. It is possible that the employer is firing these employees because of their sex if they are firing them because they are new mothers and they do not also similarly fire new fathers. She may want to see an attorney who litigates employment discrimination cases for advice.