The working world is a difficult place for a pregnant woman, but when you need to make ends meet, sometimes you have to get creative.
Setting the Scene
It is very unfortunate, but there are a lot of pregnant women who need to financially support themselves, despite their pregnancy. It is often difficult to convince employers that hiring someone while they’re pregnant is a good idea because they will inevitably need time off, ideally with compensation.
One Particular Case
The mother in scope here is a woman named Lindsey Wilcox. Lindsey is a recent high school graduate who had been working numerous part-time jobs after she graduated high school. Lindsey did not plan to go to college immediately, so searching for a full-time job became her top priority, until she received some life-changing news…
Expecting the Expected
Lindsey was in a relationship with a man named Felix Jimenez. This relationship was incredibly positive and healthy, so when they found out that they were having a baby, both Felix and Lindsey were elated.
Age is a Factor
Recent high school graduates, like Linsey and Felix, don’t have the time that adults typically do to save enough money to prepare for having a child. That, and Lindsey lacked any specified degree or trade skill, so she was searching for jobs in retail and the service industry. Felix was able to support her, but only for so long…
Getting Bigger by the Minute
As her pregnancy moved along, Lindsey became more and more desperate for work. She began attempting to hide her pregnancy when she would go in for interviews, but this only made things worse when she was forced to tell these potential employers about her situation.
A Last Ditch Effort
While scrolling through threads on Facebook, Lindsey stumbled upon an advertisement for the Reececliff Family Diner. Lindsey was already familiar with this establishment, and she loved their food. She found out they were hiring for waiters and waitresses and decided to send in her resume. She waited anxiously to hear back, as this was one of the last places she could find…
Here She Comes
After nearly a week of waiting, and a ton of stress, they contacted Lindsey back and offered her a job interview! Lindsey went in, and was completely honest and charming with her interviewer, who seemed to be totally okay with it at the time, and explained how difficult it was to find a job as a young expecting mother.
Disaster Strikes
The diner contacted Lindsey back after her interview had been processed, and decided to not offer her the job. Lindsey was devastated, and was convinced that nobody would hire her because of her pregnancy. That is, until she figured out her course of action…
Confused at Disintrest
Lindsey was mortified and furious that the diner would reject her so frankly, without any explanation. Especially after they had invited her in and had such a positive interview, Lindsey started to think that if she hid her pregnancy, they would have hired her.
Felix Makes a Decision
Lindsey sent screenshots of the messages that the diner sent her, rejecting her employment request. Felix was equally upset, and he cared so much about Lindsey that he wanted to do something that would make this situation neutralize, and get Lindsey a job so they could support their child together. Felix devised a plan that would help Lindsey both get back at the diner, and get Lindsey the help she needed…
Shooting Their Shot
Felix posted this screenshot Lindsey’s exchange with the caption “Let me just say this is wrong and I’m pretty sure illegal, and they won’t get another dollar from me.” It wasn’t long before this post started to get some serious attention.
Like a Rolling Stone
The Facebook post got enough attention that Fox-13 decided to interview her about her predicament. This got the ball rolling and sent this story to parenting websites all around the globe. People were reaching out from all corners of the map, to express their outrage…
Going Viral
Felixs’ post received thousands of likes, comments, and shares. Thousands of people were abuzz about the inappropriate actions of the diner, and about how illegal their discrimination was. This forced the diner to respond, since their backs were against the wall.
Inappropriate Reaction
The diner posted this on their Facebook page, after an onslaught of angry people demanding a statement practically forced them to respond. This caused even more backlash because they posted Lindsey’s personal information on the internet without her permission. That wasn’t all they did wrong though…
A Huge Mistake
The diner also posted Lindsey’s full name, address, phone number, email, and where she went to school. They took the information down after hundreds of people threatened and warned them about what they did, but the damage was done. The internet was outraged at the audacity of this “family” diner that wouldn’t accept a pregnant worker, despite the illegality.
Making Difficult Decisions
Folks on the internet were offering Lindsey legal counsel, they recommended that she no longer communicates with anyone until she finds a lawyer. After doing a deep dive into the diner’s history, Felix and Lindsey found out that this was not the first time that this restaurant had discriminated against a pregnant woman. They had a case, and Lindsey and Felix were in a good position to win…
Breaking it Down
Employment attorney, Raul Valles, spoke directly to Felix and Lindsey about this matter. He detailed that it is illegal for employers to discriminate against a pregnant person if they are pregnant during the time of their interview. He mentioned that this was a violation of federal law.
Making a Case for Themselves
Establishments can shoot themselves in the foot for discriminating against anyone pregnant, or with a similar disability, as they can be sued by the person they were discriminating against. Not to mention the community backlash that the restaurant had to endure, losing them massive amounts of money. As Lindsey communicated more with legal professionals, she began weighing her options and making big decisions…
Community Polarization
Most members of the community around them supported what Lindsey and Felix were doing, but others were loyalists to the diner. They thought that Lindsey would not have made a good employee, and that was the sole reason that the diner did not hire them. Some stated that she just wanted the attention to get a job.
Bringing it Full Circle
Felix’s’ post inspired the owner of the diner to reach out to the couple. He wanted to clear the air, claiming that it was not because of the lack of business, but he wanted to prove that his establishment was more ethical than what they have been represented as…
A Staple in the Community
The owner of the diner stated that they had been a staple in the community for nearly two decades, and have been having a difficult time maintaining business after these allegations went through. He stated that this was the work of an untrained employee and that this wasn’t a representation of their business as a whole.
Not Fronting the Blame
Most people would think that this is a lame excuse, and it kind of is. What kind of business owner just throws their employees under the bus like that? If you own the business, this is representative of your image, not anyone else’s.
Copping Out
As unprofessional as that statement was, Lindsey was the bigger person in this matter and chose to accept his apology. She hadn’t expected anything more from him, after all, they were the people that were causing her so much stress and put her personal information on the internet for anyone to see.
Digging Himself Deeper and Deeper
The owner of the diner claimed that the employee was not “trained properly” to understand tense legal situations like this. He stated that this employee would now be “properly educated” to deal with this kind of thing in the future. He denied all fault and threw his own employee down to make himself look innocent. That’s not a very classy move.
It Doesn’t Stop There
Then the owner of the diner offered Lindsey another opportunity to interview with him, free of all previous discrimination. Lindsey politely declined, but she was deeply offended that he would offer her something so insulting as consolation for being mistreated.
Needless To Say
Lindsey decided to put the past behind her and not attempt any legal action against the diner, its owner, or the employee that wronged her so deeply. In all the fuss of dealing with the owner of this establishment, Lindsey’s due date was approaching rapidly, and she still didn’t have any job prospects.
The End Result
After all the outrage, excitement, and attention, Lindsey and Felix decided to solely focus on the lives in front of them. Lindsey ignored all requests for interviews and press (all the unpaid ones at least) and got excited about starting the most important chapter of her life, supporting her soon to be a newborn baby.
The Epidemic
Regardless of the outcome of Lindsey and Felix’s case, denying pregnant women the ability to start new jobs is an epidemic that is halting the progress of the American workplace.
Constant Discrimination
The majority of cases do not get reported, because the women who need the service industry and retail jobs that require physical activity typically do not have enough money or time to focus on a lawsuit. They need the money as soon as possible, that’s why they’re interviewing for the job.
Laws to Manage Discrimination
States like Florida (the state that Lindsey and Felix were from) have active laws to protect soon to be mothers from discrimination in the workplace. Florida is an exception to national law though, there are laws set in place to protect working pregnant people, but it is far too easy for employers to get away with setting them up for failure.
Famous for Inequality
Walmart is among the most talked-about establishments in the conversation about discriminating pregnant people. In the 2017 case of Whitney Tomlinson, the higher-ups in her store told her that she needed to go on unpaid leave until she gave birth. Whitney took this case to court and won.
Whitney Now
This is Whitney after she had her newborn, it is unfortunate, but most of the people who go through this kind of discrimination typically do not get the result she did.
Bringing Folks Together
Whitney used the media attention and money that was donated to her to start a foundation called “A Better Balance” that helps expecting mothers fund themselves through their pregnancies. This foundation has filed five lawsuits against Walmart alone, for five different instances, in the past two years.
Some Women Keep it a Secret
Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman herself, kept her pregnancy a secret while filming her scenes for the Justice League. She was afraid that her co-stars would treat her differently, and that she wouldn’t be given the same respect and screen time that she deserved.