Family Dollar Stores of North Carolina, LLC, a Matthews, North Carolina-headquartered retailer with a store in Greenville, violated federal law by refusing to provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee’s pregnancy-related limitations and then firing her, according to a lawsuit by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, on Dec. 31, 2024, on her day off, a customer service representative experienced pregnancy-related medical issues, including vaginal bleeding, high blood pressure, swelling in her legs, and back pain. The employee notified the store manager that her doctor referred her to a high-risk clinic and wanted her off work until the appointment three days later, requiring her to miss two scheduled shifts.
The store manager called the employee and insisted that she provide a doctor’s note before the night was over, even though it was New Year’s Eve. When the employee was unable to produce the note, the store manager fired her, saying, “[I’m] going to have to go ahead and let you go.”
At her appointment on Jan. 3, 2025, the employee learned she had miscarried.
“Firing a worker for requesting time off to address urgent pregnancy-related medical concerns is not only unlawful — it is indefensible,” said acting EEOC General Counsel Catherine Eschbach. “To add loss of family income to the tragic loss of a baby is incredibly stressful.”
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, absent an undue hardship. The PWFA also makes it unlawful to fire an employee for needing or requesting an accommodation.
The EEOC seeks monetary damages for the employee, including compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive relief against the employer to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.
The alleged conduct also violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination because of pregnancy, according to the EEOC.
The EEOC said it filed suit in the U.S. District for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Eastern Division, after first attempting a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative process.
Family Dollar has not yet filed an answer to the complaint.
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