Company Violated Federal Law by Failing to Hire Pregnant Applicant, Federal Agency Charged

ATLANTA - Quality Solutions, LLC, a Dalton, Ga., staffing company, will pay $22,500 and furnish other relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to EEOC's lawsuit, Kayla Medeiros sought a temporary job assignment through Quality Solutions. Around Dec. 19, 2014, Quality Solutions called Medeiros for a job opening. EEOC charged in its lawsuit that when Medeiros responded to Quality Solutions indicating her interest in taking the job, a company manager told her that he could not send her for the assignment because she was pregnant. The manager indicated that the job was in a warehouse where Medeiros could get hurt.

Such alleged conduct violates the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which is a part of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and which prohibits employers from subjecting women to discrimination due to pregnancy. EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Rome Division (Case No. 4:15-cv-00176) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The consent decree settling the suit was entered by the court on Feb. 18, 2016. In addition to paying $22,500 to Medeiros, Quality Solutions agreed to provide equal employment opportunity training to its employees and to post anti-discrimination notices at its facilities. The two-year decree also requires Quality Solutions to report to EEOC all complaints it receives of pregnancy discrimination and how it responds to those complaints.

"An employer cannot make hiring decisions based on what it thinks is in the best interests of a pregnant applicant," said EEOC Regional Attorney Lynette Barnes. "Every woman has the right to make decisions about her health and ability to work when she is pregnant."