The federal government is suing Triple T Foods, accusing the Springdale pet food processor of firing a female lab technician because she is pregnant.
About a month after the woman was hired to work in the plant’s quality control section for meat byproducts, she told the company she was pregnant. She was immediately terminated from the position the same day, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“Triple T fired this employee the same day she informed the company she was pregnant for no legitimate or legal reason,” said Katharine W. Kores in a statement. Kores is the district director of the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee and portions of Mississippi. “Pregnant women should not have to fear that they will be subjected to this type of conduct by their employers.”
The employee seeks “back wages, compensatory and punitive damages, and any other such relief the court deems necessary and proper,” according to an EEOC statement.
The statement goes on to say, “Pregnancy discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Fayetteville Division, (Civil Action No. 5:13-cv-05198) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The lawsuit asks the court to grant a permanent injunction enjoining the defendant from engaging in any employment practice that discriminates against an employee on the basis of pregnancy.”
