As many New Jersey women may know, childbirth can be a joyous but scary and painful experience. The process can be even scarier when it happens while a person is at work and has to go through labor alone. A former manager for New York City's Standard Hotel claims that is what happened to her and, on top of that, she was fired shortly afterward. The woman is now filing a $10 million wrongful termination lawsuit against the hotel.
The 42-year-old woman, who had worked at the hotel for four years, was fired in August 2012, ostensibly for stealing office supplies. However, the woman believes she knows the real reasons for her discharge.
She believes she was fired for being older and less attractive than the hotel's preferred standard in addition to the fact that she gave birth in one of the hotel rooms after being denied maternity leave and going into labor while at work.
The woman was alone in a hotel room on a Friday night and spent two hours in labor while waiting for her husband to arrive from New Jersey. She claims that none of her co-workers offered assistance because it would disrupt the hotel's Friday night club and party scene. According to the woman's lawsuit, she and her husband were forced to leave through a side door after she delivered the baby. The woman was back to work three days after the delivery, but she was fired four months later.
Unless the woman had a contract, she is considered an at-will employee, which means that she can be terminated at any time and she can leave the job at any time. Despite this, at-will employment still allows employees certain rights. They cannot be fired based on race, gender, age, religion or, in this case, pregnancy status.
Source: Gothamist, " Former Standard Hotel Manager Says She Was Fired After Giving Birth In One Of The Rooms," John Del Signore, Nov. 15, 2012