A former employee of the Kansas City nonprofit Kauffman Scholars alleges she was forced out of her job due to her high-risk pregnancy that would require time off for frequent prenatal appointments.
The woman had worked at the nonprofit for seven years, the last two at a position that had been newly created. The nonprofit assists urban students with preparing themselves to get a university degree. According to the terminated employee, “I loved it. I believed in their mission.”
The woman learned that tests revealed that her second pregnancy would be a high risk one and alerted her supervisor to same. She immediately sensed a change in the attitudes of her bosses — while they said all the right things, their actions belied their words.
The basis of her Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint is the retaliation she experienced when assignments were taken from her, and her position was eliminated on February 20 during her sixth month of pregnancy. Officials with the nonprofit declined comment, stating that the allegations were personnel matters.
One of the goals of her filing her complaint is to force the nonprofit to re-evaluate the policies and procedures for their employees so other pregnant women never have to go through the stress of a wrongful termination.
In these shaky economic times, it can be daunting for a worker to stand up for employee rights. This is especially true for a pregnant woman experiencing a high risk pregnancy. However, by filing her EEOC complaint, the worker is alerting others to the alleged violations and can seek support from the legal community to help her successfully litigate her case.
Source: KCTV, “Woman says nonprofit fired her due to high-risk pregnancy” Jeanene Kiesling, May. 23, 2014
