Woman Claims She Was Fired for Being Pregnant

According to DNA info, 30-year-old Mekhala Sofsky is suing popular Brooklyn bakery Doughnut Plant for discriminating against her because of her pregnancy. In the lawsuit, which was filed on December 19, Sofsky claims that when she told her supervisors she was pregnant in July 2012, the attitude toward her completely changed. 

"Up until I told them [that I was pregnant] I had been doing really well. No complaints, no issues whatsoever, and then basically after I told them it started going south," Sofsky said."Nothing in my behavior changed except for being pregnant and having to deal with things differently."

Sofsky said that owner Mark Israel repeatedly insisted that she said she planned to stay home to take care of her baby even though she had emphasized several times that she wanted to return to work once she  gave birth. Even so, she was demoted her from a salaried personnel manager in charge of overseeing two of the chain store's shops to an hourly worker who only managed one store. Her salary was also cut from $50,000 a year to $14 an hour, and she was reprimanded for issues that were out of her control before she was ultimately fired in April 2013. 

Now, Sofsky is seeking to be re-hired and receive back-pay.  

Just weeks ago, another incident related to pregnancy discrimination made the news when a pregnant woman claimed [pullquote align='C']Her company fired her for taking too many bathroom breaks and therefore "stealing company time."

Sofsky's case is less black-and-white because she did ask to have her hours reduced, but the entire situation lends to the current debate about whether or not pregnant women should be afforded special accommodation in the workplace, a heated topic that is currently being considered by the Supreme Court (opens in new tab).

What do you think? Should a woman, when making the personal choice to have a child, accept that it means her relationship with work may change? Or should employers give pregnant workers accommodations in an attempt to create a truly equal workplace? 

From: Redbook.