Wife Fired For being pregnant

[csporluck]

I'm in Illinois. My wife begun a job, the same week we discovered she was pregnant. Her employer had problems with her attending doctors appointments and that. After a few months her employer terminated her, under the guise of missing work. Those times she missed work she was told not to come in, so long as she made up the time later. She didn't have personal/vacation time built up but still had to attend medical appointments dealing with her pregnancy. There is no documentation that we are aware of, however I'm suspecting there are reports and whatnot from the center (Head Start Program) to the Central Office. As I said, they didn't SAY she was fired for being pregnant, but they sure as heck didn't like her going to appointments, and would chastise her for missing work when she was at one (appointment).

Thanks for any incite.

 

[cbg]

Firing someone for missing work is a valid, legal reason.

If she had only just discovered she was pregnant, she had not been working long enough to be eligible for any state or Federally mandated leave time. She therefore was ONLY entitled to whatever time the company offered. Being pregnant does not entitle her to anything more than another employee would be offered. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act states that she is entitled to be treated exactly the same as if she were not pregnant. If they would have fired someone with a non-maternity condition under the same circumstances, they can fire her.

The ONLY way you are going to be able to make any case here is if you are prepared to show (and at least initially, the burden of proof will be on you to show) that someone who had worked for the same length of time, missed the same amount of work, but whose doctor's appointments were for pneumonia or a broken leg, would NOT have been fired.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

If she was that early in her pregnancy and only worked for a few months, she at most had maybe 3 appointments, since early they are approx 4-6 weeks in a normal pregnancy becoming more frequent as it progresses. She was lead to believe she could make up the time, was she working a 40 5x8 week, were there late or early appointments available many practices offer later appointments for those who work?

 

[Beth3]

but they sure as heck didn't like her going to appointments, and would chastise her for missing work when she was at one Please show me any employer who would be happy with a brand new employee who started missing work?

Unless your wife can demonstrate that she was treated less favorably than another newly hired employee has been who had the same freqency of absences for non-pregnancy reasons, she has no claim.

 

[csporluck]

The only reason stated to her as to why she was told to leave was this "Things aren't working out". The only concern they've expressed throughout her employment was with her pregnancy. In fact, yesterday, the day she was terminated, she was at work early even... and they waited until the end of the day.

When she advised her former employer she was pregnant they asked if she still wanted the job...

So she wasn't told anything other than "It's not working out". The only thing that "it" is was her pregnancy...

 

[csporluck]

If she was that early in her pregnancy and only worked for a few months, she at most had maybe 3 appointments, since early they are approx 4-6 weeks in a normal pregnancy becoming more frequent as it progresses. She was lead to believe she could make up the time, was she working a 40 5x8 week, were there late or early appointments available many practices offer later appointments for those who work?

Military Doctors don't have appointments for dependents that work...

 

[Beth3]

So she wasn't told anything other than "It's not working out". The only thing that "it" is was her pregnancy Or the number of absences she had during her few several months there.

Here's the bottom line - if they fired your wife BECAUSE she is pregnant, that is unlawful. If they fired your wife because she was new and was missing too much work - and they would have treated any other newly hired employee the same - then what they did was legal.

Being pregnant doesn't entitle an individual to special treatment under the law, just the same treatment anyone else would receive.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

That is why I asked the questions about her appointments, how many so it can be compared with other new hires? If it was early in the pregnancy then after a few months there should have been only 2-3 absences, if more there should be a reason. If you are blaming it on the military that doesn't cut it because there should have been some means to schedule and that is possibly what they are looking at.

 

[csporluck]

The base I'm assigned to only authorizes dependents to see physicians in the late mornings and early afternoons, 10-3. Gotta love contracted physicians. So that's when the appointments are made. My wife's employment was 45 minutes one way from the military medical facility... Traffic/Rush Hour.. Doctors saying something takes so long.. and ends up going over...

My wife is the only pregnant employee, or I should say was. They have no one that is considered disabled, or even temporary. The stated reason for her termination is "It isn't working out". This was said in front of a group of people, and the only reason that "It" could be is the Pregnancy... They wouldn't explain themselves either, and waited until the end of the day to say so...

 

[rmet4nzkx]

How Many Days Did She Miss For Doctor's Appointments?

 

[okamsrazor]

http://jobsearchtech.about.com/library/weekly/aa102300-2.htm

However unfair, for it to be the illegal act of wrongful termination, an employer must violate a specific state or Federal law, regulation or constitutional provision. Unfortunately, there's no such thing that generally protects employees from "crummy deals" per se.

 

[Beth3]

The base I'm assigned to only authorizes dependents to see physicians in the late mornings and early afternoons, 10-3. That's not her employer's problem - that's your wife's problem. Because an employee's physician of choice is only available during hours that conflict with his/her job does not mean that an employer has to excuse those absences.

The stated reason for her termination is "It isn't working out". This was said in front of a group of people, and the only reason that "It" could be is the Pregnancy... "It" does not refer to her pregnancy - it refers to her employment with them. "'It' isn't working out" means "your employment with us isn't working out."

She was new, she started missing a fair amount of work, she was fired. There is nothing unique about your wife's situation or, it appears, unlawful. As I said above, your wife was not entitled to special treatment because she is pregnant.

 

[csporluck]

How Many Days Did She Miss For Doctor's Appointments?

She didn't miss any days. She was late, and they used her personal time and such. one day her boss said just don't come in, that was last week. Said that as long as she made up her time that week it was all okay.

 

[cbg]

Okay, last time.

Your wife was not fired because she was pregnant. She was fired because she missed too much time. That is legal. Whether it was days or hours in immaterial. You do not have a case of illegal discrimination. Move on.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

She didn't miss any days. She was late, and they used her personal time and such. one day her boss said just don't come in, that was last week. Said that as long as she made up her time that week it was all okay.

Your story keeps changing, at one point you said she had to take the whole day off then you say it was only the last time. You still didn't say how many times she had an abscence re an appointment, obviously you don't think it was fair but you change your story so much, makes it sound like it had to do with excessive abscences and you are hoping you can pin it on pregnancy. I was asking how many times, because in a normal pregnancy she might have had 3 appointments in the time you state then we could determine is 3 abscences was more or less than other new employees so there might be something else besides pregnancy, or if there was something extraordinary about the pregnancy. You said she was told she could make up the time, again you chage that, you said she didn't have any sick time then she used personal time. It sounds like they had just cause to terminate her employment.

Also, if your wife had to travel 45 minutes between work and medical care then I'm assuming that a similar commute was related to her job and maybe it is better in the end that she isn't traveling so much on a regular basis as she approaches the end of her pregnancy and it may be best for her pergnancy to concentrate on being healthy and not stressing, or perhaps finding part time close to home.