EEOC Sues Employer for Pregnancy Discrimination Alleging Employee Fired Employee Because of Her Need for Additional Leave to Recover From Cesarean Section

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Dallas-based Greenhouse Outpatient Center alleging it violated federal law when a Behavioral Health Technician was fired after she requested an extra 30 days of leave to recover from childbirth by cesarean section. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, the employee was hired in October 2015 and notified human resources of her need for maternity leave in February 2016. She was granted a 30-day leave of absence for childbirth and delivered her baby by cesarean section. The employee's doctor subsequently told her she would need eight weeks to recover from the surgery before returning to work. When she notified human resources of her need for an additional four weeks of leave, she was told her position could not be held open past the initial 30 days that had been approved. Because she could not return at the end of the 30-day leave period, she was fired, even though Greenhouse Outpatient Center has granted leave past 30 days to non-pregnant employees for reasons unrelated to pregnancy.