Belmont Village to Pay $94,000 to Settle EEOC Pregnancy Discrimination Suit

Senior Living Facility Company Fired Assistant Chef and Personal Care Aide Because of Their Pregnancies, Federal Agency Charged

ATLANTA – Belmont Village, L.P. and Belmont Village at Buckhead Senior Living, LLC, owners and operators of senior living facilities throughout the United States, will pay $94,000 to two former employees to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Oppor­tunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC charged that when two employees at Belmont's Atlanta facility, assistant chef Joann Johnson and personal care aide Marcia Thomas, informed their supervisors that they were pregnant, they were immediately written up for alleged job performance issues and discharged. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prohibits employers from subjecting employees to discrimination due to pregnancy.  The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The consent decree settling the suit, in addition to the monetary relief, includes provisions for equal employment opportunity training, reporting and posting of anti-discrimination notices.

"The EEOC filed this suit based on evidence that pregnancy factored into the decisions to dis­charge the victims in this case," said Robert Dawkins, regional attorney for the EEOC's Atlanta District Office. "This resolution is designed to ensure that Belmont will employ sufficient safeguards to prevent pregnancy discrimination in the future."

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.