Major exterminator Terminix International will pay $80,000
to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The EEOC had charged that Terminix unlawfully fired an employee at its
McGehee, Ark., location because of her pregnancy.
The EEOC’s suit against Terminix International and its parent
company, ServiceMaster Company, both based in Memphis, alleged that a
manager forced a pregnant pest technician to take medical leave and
then fired her because of her pregnancy. According to EEOC, the female
technician informed her employer of a restriction against handling
pesticides. The company honored her restriction for approximately six
weeks, and then terminated her employment, claiming it did not have
enough work for her to perform with this restriction. After discharging
the technician, Terminix then hired two male employees to perform
reinspections that the female technician could have performed, the EEOC
said.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, makes it unlawful for an employer
to discriminate based on pregnancy when making employment decisions.
The EEOC filed suit (Civil Action No. 5:09-cv-0233 JMM) in U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas after first
attempting to reach a voluntary settlement out of court through its
conciliation process.
In addition to the award of monetary damages, the two-year consent
decree signed by U.S. District Judge James Moody also enjoins Terminix
from unlawfully forcing pregnant employees on medical leave and
terminating a pregnant employee on maternity leave based on sex. The
decree also requires Terminix to redistribute its discrimination
policies, to require employees to sign copies of the policies and to
make periodic compliance reports to the EEOC.