Minnesota is an “at-will” employment state. That means that your employer can fire you for any reason or no reason at all – even a stupid, incorrect, unfair, or unethical reason – provided that it’s not an illegal reason.
But your employer can’t make any decisions about your employment based on your sex, gender, or pregnancy status – that’s sex discrimination and prohibited by both state and federal law. If you feel you were terminated due to your pregnancy status, let our Minneapolis employment lawyer fight for your rights.
How do I prove a pregnancy discrimination in employment claim in Minnesota?
Your employer can’t make employment decisions about you just because you become pregnant. Typically what we see happen is that a female employee will get certain pregnancy related work restrictions from her doctor (lifting restrictions, standing, bending, etc.) and give them to her employer. The employer will then refuse to accommodate or honor the restrictions and either terminate the employee or put her on some kind of medical leave.
We prove pregnancy discrimination claims in a similar way to disability discrimination claims. First, we’ll prove that you were qualified to perform the essential functions of your job, with or without reasonable accommodation. Essential functions include the main tasks of your position and fundamental responsibilities, but not every marginal task. We’ll establish that either you were capable of continuing to do your job as you always had, even before you were pregnant and got restrictions. Or, we’ll show that you would have been able to continue to do your job if your employer just made some reasonable accommodations, such as: new ways of doing the job; different equipment that can help you; different hours; transfer or reassignment; or getting assistance on certain tasks from coworkers.
We usually have a big gift here from your employer because, oftentimes, they don’t engage in an interactive process with pregnant employees after getting the restrictions. The law requires your employer to sit down with you after getting your restrictions and engage in an interactive process to discuss: the essential functions of your job; whether your restrictions prevent you from performing those functions; and whether reasonable accommodations may allow you to continue performing your job. Many times the employer skips this altogether or, if the employer does it, it does a very perfunctory job and doesn’t engage in the interactive process in good faith. The law allows for a presumption of pregnancy discrimination when the employer fails to engage in the interactive process.
Sometimes, when employers discriminate on the basis of pregnancy or sex, they’ll make up and offer a different, non-discriminatory reason for termination. For example, your employer might claim that it terminated you for poor performance, or say that it underwent “restructuring.” In order to win on a discrimination claim, employment lawyers have to prove that the reason offered by the employer is a pretextual reason that is just being said so that your employer can avoid having to say the actual, illegal reason for termination – gender discrimination.
We’ve got a couple ways to prove pretext on behalf of employees. First, we try to demonstrate that the reason given by the employer is just factually wrong. So, for example, if your employer claims that it terminated you for poor performance, but actually gave you high performance reviews for a number of years and has no written records of ever giving you discipline or counseling, then we’ve created a fact question for a jury regarding whether the reason given by the employer is the real reason for termination, or just pretext to mask sex discrimination.
Second, we can prove that the reason given by the employer isn’t the real reason for termination because it wasn’t equally applied to similarly situated employees. So, if your employer claims that it terminated you for poor performance, but your peers actually had equal or worse performance reviews than you – or documented performance problems that you didn’t have – than we’ve created a fact issue regarding whether the employer’s stated reason for termination is the actual reason, or just pretext to mask sex discrimination.
For a legal consultation with a pregnancy discrimination lawyer serving Minneapolis, call 612-349-2729
Can My Employer Fire Me if I Make a Pregnancy Discrimination Claim?
No. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and the Equal Pay Act all contain anti-retaliation provisions. If your employer terminates you for making a complaint of sex discrimination, pay discrimination, or pregnancy discrimination, then you’ve got a retaliation case in addition to your gender discrimination case.
Minneapolis Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyer Near Me 612-349-2729
How Much is My Pregnancy Discrimination Case Worth?
This is absolutely a good question to ask as you make a decision on whether to pursue a case in court or not. Starting an employment case is a big decision and you should know what your potential return is for the investment of your time and energy.
The short answer is that the value of your case depends on a lot of things, like:
- the strength of your case on the merits;
- the amount of damages you’ve suffered;
- whether your employer has the ability to pay a large amount; and
- your tolerance for risk.
We get this question so much that we’ve created a separate, detailed page going through each of these factors, right here.
For employment pregnancy discrimination claims, you may be entitled to back pay and front pay damages, emotional distress compensation, treble damages under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, punitive damages under both the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the federal Civil Rights Act, and your attorney fees and costs.
That’s a tough question to answer because there’s really no “average” settlement. The value of an employment race discrimination case depends on the strength of the case; the damages the employee suffered; the ability of the employer to pay a large amount (if the employer is insured, even better); and the employee’s tolerance for risk and willingness to go to trial. Here’s a detailed breakdown of those factors.
Please note that just because this employee received the above result doesn’t mean that’s what your case is worth. This is just an example. Your case value depends on a number of things.
Click to contact our Minneapolis Employment Lawyers today
What Should I do if I’ve Been the Victim of Pregnancy Discrimination at Work?
First of all, if you’re searching for answers right now after losing your job, we’re very sorry that you’re in this position. We know how tough it is to lose your job, especially when you’ve got family and other financial obligations. It’s especially frustrating and hurtful when the termination is discriminatory.
Second, make sure that take advantage of state benefits designed to help people going through tough times. Apply for unemployment benefits. And, contact COBRA to make sure you and your family are covered for health insurance.
Third, write everything down that happened to you. Write down the date that you were terminated, who terminated you, what they precisely said was the reason for your termination, and who else was present. Write down whether you think the reason your employer gave you was accurate or not, and why. Write down the names of employees that you think may have useful information. Write down the types of documents or emails that you think may have good information about your case. Write down everything – the reason for this is that your memory will probably fade over time and you want to document things while they’re fresh in your mind. If you pursue a lawsuit, your trial likely won’t be for at least 12 to 18 months, so you want to have something that you can refer to – write everything down.
Fourth, immediately send a letter or email request to your employer requesting your personnel file and the reason for your termination. Under Minnesota law, your employer needs to provide it to you. If your employer hasn’t paid you all of your wages or given you your last paycheck, make sure to request those wages in writing also (by letter or email).
Fifth, call us to talk about your case.
Complete a Case Evaluation form now
What is the Statute of Limitations for a Wrongful Termination Case?
You need to move quickly on these. In Minnesota, you’ve got just one year from the date of the wrongful termination or last act of pregnancy discrimination to bring a lawsuit or file a claim with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. You’ve only got 300 days from the date of the termination or last act of pregnancy discrimination to file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, if you want to bring federal claims under Title VII or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Contact Our Pregnancy Discrimination Attorneys.
You must act quickly when it comes to employment claims. If you wait, there may be strict statutes of limitation that will bar you from filing any claim at all against your employer. Call Madia Law today to discuss your case.
First, contact our office and tell us about your situation. You’ll talk with our staff for about 5-10 minutes. They’ll get some basic information about you and your case.
There’s some information that we’ll need when you call. We will want to know who you worked for, what kind of work you did, for how long worked there, how much you earned, if/when you were terminated, the reason given by your employer for any discipline and termination, and why do you think your employer did something unlawful or wrongful. If you have this information handy, it will allow us to proceed more quickly.
We will get back to you shortly – usually within a few hours. If your potential case is a little outside of our wheelhouse, we may refer you to attorneys, agencies, or organizations that we think might be better suited to handle your situation. Our goal is to ensure you get the best and most appropriate help possible for your particular situation. If that’s not us, we’ll try to tell you immediately and point you in the right direction.
If we think that we might be able help you, we’ll set an appointment for you to talk with one of our employment lawyers. We’ll discuss your case, and give you our honest assessment of its strengths, weaknesses, and value. If we then mutually agree that Madia will represent you, we will talk about the process of moving forward with your case.
When you talk with our employment lawyers, please be sure to have all relevant documents that you have in your possession. For example, that could include: pay-stubs, personnel files, employment handbooks/policies, letters from your employer (including your termination letter), any text messages or emails that you think are important, and any other documents that you think might be helpful.
Call 612-349-2729 or complete a Case Evaluation form
