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Britthaven,
Inc., a Kinston, N.C.-based nursing home and assisted living chain,
will pay $300,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought
by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency
announced.
The EEOC had charged that Britthaven had, since at
least 2002, subjected pregnant employees to different terms and
conditions of employment than its non-pregnant employees. Specifically,
the EEOC said that upon learning that an employee was pregnant, the
company required her to obtain full medical clearance in order to
continue working. As a result of this practice, Katherine Hance and
other pregnant women were forced to take medical leave or were
terminated despite the fact that they were fully capable of performing
their job duties. Hance worked at the Carolina Commons facility in
Greensboro. In addition to the Carolina Commons facility, Britthaven
operates 53 other nursing and assisted living facilities in North
Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky.
"Working women who chose to
have children, should not be penalized or treated differently than
other employees simply because they are pregnant," said Lynette A.
Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC's Charlotte District Office.
"Employers must remember that paternalistic attitudes toward pregnant
employees that result in unequal treatment at work violate federal law.
The EEOC will continue to vigorously enforce workplace civil rights
laws to remedy and eradicate pregnancy discrimination."
In
addition to the $300,000 in back pay and compensatory damages that
Britthaven will pay, the three-year consent decree resolving the case
(EEOC v. Britthaven, Inc., Case No. 1:07CV00408 in U.S. District Court
for the Middle District of North Carolina) includes injunctive relief
enjoining Britthaven from engaging in pregnancy discrimination or
retaliation and requires anti-discrimination training, the posting of a
notice about the EEOC, and reports to the EEOC so that the agency can
monitor requests for medical clearance made by the company.
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