saw this on the news last night. Pretty hypocritical.
this boston globe article has more. I'd post the direct link, but their searches expire so here is the text.
_______________
hmm, it seems the boston globe expires its searches. So here's the full article, sorry for length but it has all the details.
_____________________________________
MATERNITY-WEAR CHAIN IS SUED OVER FIRING
Author(s): ___Andrea Estes, Globe Staff Date: June 26, 2003 Page: B1 Section: Metro/Region
Cynthia Papageorge loved her job as a district manager at Mothers Work Inc., a maternity clothes retailer. She planned to spend the rest of her career working for the company until a life-altering event: She became pregnant.
As a result, she said, she was belittled and demeaned, made to feel ugly during the weeks just before she delivered, and finally fired. "We had a surprise visit from a new vice president," said Papageorge, 43, who was in charge of the company's high-end stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. "When he saw me he had almost a look of horror. I had gained 38 pounds and was wearing white leather Keds because my feet were swollen. I thought I looked presentable. He said I wasn't able to handle my position, "in my state."
While he stared at her feet and sneakers, Papageorge told him that she had note from her doctor detailing her problem with retaining fluid. "I was appalled - he made me feel like he was disgusted," she said yesterday.
Papageorge filed a discrimination complaint against the 900-store chain that operates its a pea in the pod, Mimi maternity, and Motherhood stores - including 20 in Massachusetts. In the complaint, Papageorge alleges the company has fired two other pregnant managers as well as Papageorge's boss, who says she was terminated because she refused to fire Papageorge.
Of three other suits alleging discrimination against pregnant workers, two were settled out of court and one was dismissed.
"It seems that pregnant women are subject to termination by virtue of their pregnancy," said Mark F. Itzkowitz, Papageorge's attorney. "That position was made known in meetings with managers at Mothers Work. The other women were terminated for the same reason.
"It's totally incongruous that they would fire a pregnant woman in a store that specializes in maternity clothing," he said. "You'd think that's exactly what they would love."
A Mothers Work official called the charge the company discriminates against pregnant employees "as far from the truth as possible.
"We're a company founded by a pregnant woman and we're an organization of women," said Sheryl L. Rothrogers, vice president of marketing. "We actually moved the case ourselves to federal court to get a more timely opportunity to present the facts of the case. We have comprehensive policies and practices in place designed to affirmatively and proactively help our diverse workplace balance family and work.
"We believe the suit is without merit and will be appropriately and successfully defended," she said. She wouldn't discuss the specifics of the suit.
According to the complaint moved to US District Court in Boston this week, the company's new vice president, Frank Mullay, moved quickly to fire Papageorge after visiting her in October 1999, in her 37th week of pregnancy.
Mullay ordered Papageorge's boss "to replace her while she was on maternity leave . . . to terminate her employment," according to an affidavit filed by Papageorge's then-boss, Jan Dowe, the company's director of stores.
Dowe resisted, seeking an opinion from company personnel officials, who told her not to fire Papageorge because it would be illegal, said Dowe.
But Mullay was undeterred, allegedly telling Dowe, "There are ways of getting around the law," her affidavit says.
Rothrogers said Mullay has become a target simply because "he becomes the point person. He's in charge of store operations" responsible for implementing company policies."
Dowe was fired after being told her job performance was subpar because she hadn't terminated Papageorge. In the meantime, because of Dowe's actions, Papageorge was allowed to return to work after giving birth. A few months later - with Dowe gone - Papageorge was fired after requesting a medical leave for a shoulder injury, the suit alleges.
Dowe sued the company in California and settled out of court. The settlement was confidential.
Another high-level manager, who oversaw the New York City region, was also allegedly terminated because of her pregnancy. One day before Laura Lacey, the company's director of its lease division, was scheduled to return to work from maternity leave she was told her job had been eliminated, according to her lawyer, Maurizio Savoiardo. "They offered her a low-level job in Cleveland," her attorney said. "They didn't offer a comparable job."
Company lawyers persuaded a federal judge in New York City to dismiss the case, arguing that the company had been restructured and Lacey's job eliminated.
The company's treatment of its pregnant workers was also questioned during litigation involving Washington state employees of Mothers Work who sued for overtime pay. According to Kevin Roberts, a lawyer who represented female managers, pregnant employees were treated poorly.
"There were some real horror stories," he said. A jury awarded the women about $400,000 in damages, he said.
Rothrogers wouldn't discuss the details of other lawsuits.
This Frank Mullay piece of crap sounds like he needs to be castrated and systematically executed.
Top