As we’ve mentioned before, discrimination against pregnant woman, although illegal in the state of Indiana, has been cropping up in lawsuits across the nation for a few years now. This has become such a problem that now some legal experts have noticed that a subcategory has developed called family responsibility discrimination, which is forcing many employers to rethink how they treat their employees after they have had a child.
This appears to be the case for a former employee of Oprah’s OWN network. In a lawsuit filed this month, the woman claims that despite positive performance reviews and being told that she was “on track to become vice president” she was let go from her job because she had decided to have a family.
According to the lawsuit, after giving birth to her daughter in 2012, the woman noticed that her work load was slowly being given to the temporary employee who had replaced her during her maternity leave. She also noticed that she was being left out of meetings just before being told that she was being let go. It became quite apparent to her that she had become a victim of sex discrimination as well as wrongful termination.
Despite this case happening in California, the subject matter is something many Indiana residents can relate to. Although many women in the state want to have successful careers, they don’t want to risk their desire to have a family as well. It’s important for them to remember however, that employers who discriminate against their employees on this basis are breaking the law and should be held accountable.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, “Oprah’s OWN Hit with Sex Discrimination Lawsuit,” Matthew Belloni, Feb. 1, 2013
