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A hotel based in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, has agreed to settle a lawsuit that alleged it fired an employee just days after they requested leave to recover and grieve following a stillbirth.
Lago Mar Resort & Beach Club (Lago Mar Properties, Inc.), the beachfront hotel and resort, will pay a $100,000 settlement to the worker.
The lawsuit was filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which accused the Lago Mar of failing to provide necessary accommodations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) – which came into effect in June 2023 – and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Why was Lago Mar sued for its treatment of a pregnant worker?
The case relates to a four-day period during July 2023 in which Jean Louis, a line cook, was employed by Lago Mar.
Louis was in the fifth month of her pregnancy when she began experiencing complications. She attended the hospital for evaluation on July 2, where she suffered the tragedy of a stillbirth.
According to the EEOC, the pregnancy loss caused Louis “significant physical and emotional trauma,” including depression. She contacted her supervisors at the hotel several times in that period, reportedly providing her employer with a doctor’s letter that confirmed she would need approximately six weeks’ leave to recuperate and grieve.
“Ms. Jean Louis was limited in her ability to cook, drive, concentrate, think, care for herself, sit, stand, and provide childcare,” the complaint against Lago Mar states.
On July 6, 2023, just four days after the stillbirth, the EEOC says Louis received a letter from Lago Mar’s General Manager terminating her employment.
Lago Mar agrees to pay $100,000 and implement ‘progressive measures’ for pregnant employees
Lago Mar reportedly “did not engage Ms. Jean Louis in any interactive process concerning her request for leave.” Louis’ representatives argued this represented a failure to make accommodations under the PWFA because she “could perform the essential functions of the job with the accommodation of a six-week leave to recover from stillbirth.”
The EEOC said failing to accommodate her known “limitation” amounted to discrimination under the act.
It also made a similar argument relating to the ADA, reasoning that the line cook had suffered from a pregnancy-related disability and that failing to accommodate this disability by terminating her employment therefore amounted to discrimination.
Under the PWFA and ADA, employers must provide accommodations where they are reasonable.
Lago Mar has agreed to pay $100,000 in damages to the former employee.
The hotel will also take further actions over the next three years to prevent similar incidents from arising again. According to an EEOC press release, it will “appoint an EEO coordinator, revise its employment policies to ensure employees are provided reasonable accommodations under the PWFA and ADA, provide trainings to all its employees as well as report any complaints of discrimination to the EEOC.”
Kristen Foslid, A Miami-based Regional Attorney for the EEOC said the agency commended Lago Mar for implementing progressive measures in the workplace to prevent discrimination against pregnant and disabled employees and ensure that their policies and procedures align with those legal obligations.”
Implications for employers under the PWFA and ADA
Foslid added that other US-based employers “need to be aware of their obligations under the PWFA and ADA to avoid discrimination against their employees.”
The EEOC has filed five lawsuits against US employers for violating the PWFA since it came into effect in June 2023.
Evangeline Hawthorne, an EEOC Miami District Director echoed that the outcome of the lawsuit has far-reaching implications for employers regarding accommodations under the PWFA and ADA.
“This litigation highlights the need to provide equal opportunities and accommodations for pregnant and disabled employees, as well as the necessity of training managers on how to properly handle PWFA or ADA related matters in the workplace,” she explained.
According to guidance on the EEOC website, the PWFA “requires a covered employer to provide a “reasonable accommodation” to a qualified employee’s or applicant’s known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an “undue hardship.”
This latest case indicates that the EEOC finds stillbirth, like cesarian sections, miscarriages, and postpartum depression (among others) to be a “related medical condition.”
