Belmont Village Sued By EEOC For Pregnancy Discrimination

Senior Living Facility Company Fired Chef and Personal Care Aide After They Reported Their Pregnancies, Federal Agency Charges

ATLANTA – Belmont Village, L.P. and Belmont  Village at Buckhead Senior Living, LLC,  owners and operators of senior living facilities throughout the United States, including a location in Atlanta, unlawfully fired  two employees because of their pregnancies, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity  Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed recently.

According  to the EEOC's lawsuit, when Joann Johnson and Marcia Thomas informed their  supervisors that they were pregnant, they were immediately written up for  alleged job performance issues and discharged.  Other employees who had similar job performance issues, but who were not  pregnant, were not terminated.

Title  VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination  Act, prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of  sex, including pregnancy. The EEOC filed  suit (Civil Action No., 1:11-CV-02848) in U.S. District Court for the Northern  District of Georgia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement  through its conciliation process. The  EEOC is seeking back pay and compensatory and punitive damages for Johnson and  Thomas, as well as injunctive relief designed to stop pregnancy discrimination  and prevent it from recurring in the future.

"An employee should  never be terminated simply because she is pregnant, said Bernice  Williams-Kimbrough, district director for the EEOC's Atlanta District  Office."The EEOC is committed to protectingfemale  employees from arbitrary firings due to pregnancy."

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