Pregnancy discrimination has been illegal for decades, but it still happens. In EEOC v. High Speed Enterprise, Inc. d/b/a/ Subway, 833 F. Supp. 2d 1153 (D. Ariz. June 27, 2011) a jury made up of five men and two women awarded punitive damages for this discrimination.
The Commission sued the Subway franchise under Title VII after it refused to hire Belinda Murillo. Ms. Murillo applied to work at the franchise, but the General Manager admitted telling her, “We can’t hire you because you’re pregnant.” The district court entered partial summary judgment for the EEOC finding that no reasonable jury could conclude that the defendant had not discriminated against Ms. Murillo because of her pregnancy. Later, a jury made up of five men and two women awarded punitive damages for this discrimination.
In agreeing with the EEOC, Chief Judge Roslyn O. Silver for U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona explained, “A plaintiff may establish her case through direct or circumstantial evidence … Direct evidence is evidence, which if believed, requires the conclusion that unlawful discrimination was at least a motivating factor in the employer’s actions … [the EEOC] has provided direct evidence of discrimination.”