Restaurant hires, then fires woman on same day after learning she’s pregnant, feds say
A Louisiana restaurant hired a woman and then fired her the same day after a manager discovered she was pregnant, according to federal officials.
Now, the restaurant must pay her $30,000.
Bourne’s House, a restaurant in Franklinton, a town about 70 miles north of New Orleans, admitted that it violated federal law when it fired a worker because of her pregnancy, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Bourne’s House could not be reached for comment.
On May 26, the restaurant resolved a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit that was filed in September 2021 by the EEOC, court records show.
The case dates back to April 18, 2019, when, after an interview with a manager, the woman was hired as a hostess at Bourne’s House, according to the lawsuit.
That night, after the manager discovered that the woman was pregnant, he messaged her, stating “Hey, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I’m not gonna be able to hire you. I didn’t realize that you were expecting a baby. I’m afraid by the time I get you trained good, you’ll have to be off to be a mom. I’m sorry,” court documents show.
The woman was told the position was not “suitable” for her because of her pregnancy and she was told to reapply after she gave birth, the complaint states.
A couple of months later, the woman reapplied for a position in person. Court documents state that after she left, one of the restaurant’s employees wrote down “pregnant” on the woman’s application and she was not rehired.
“Employers, whether a local restaurant or large corporation, cannot take away a person’s opportunity to earn a living because she is pregnant,” Peter Theis, trial attorney in the EEOC’s New Orleans Field Office, said in the release. “A pregnant employee has an obvious need to earn a living not only for herself, but also for her expected baby.”
As part of the settlement, the restaurant has agreed to conduct training and revise its policies, according to the release.
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Restaurant hires, then fires woman on same day after learning she’s pregnant, feds say."
