A lawsuit was recently filed against Walmart alleging discrimination against pregnant employees. The lawsuit itself was filed by a Griffin woman, Whitney Tomlinson, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Atlanta. A single mother, Tomlinson is seeking an “unspecified amount of money from the Arkansas-based retail giant, as well as for orders that would compel different behavior by the company.”So what happened? Well, according to the lawsuit, Tomlinson “was a packer in a Walmart distribution center when she became pregnant.” As her pregnancy progressed and she visited her doctor for routine appointments, she was eventually advised to avoid heavy lifting. She was even given a doctor's note to give to her supervisor. Upon showing her employer the note, she was allegedly “pressured to take unpaid leave,” something Tomlinson did not want to take because it would mean “severe financial hardship during an already vulnerable time.”This isn't the first time Walmart has been accused of pregnancy discrimination, though. In fact, three legal organizations have already “filed a class-action suit against Walmart for alleged pregnancy discrimination.” The legal groups include “the National Women’s Law Center, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C., A Better Balance, a New York-based advocacy group focused on family issues, and Mehri & Skalet, a law firm based in Washington, D.C.” While all three groups have acknowledged that Walmart has changed some of its policies over time, they “argue that the modifications do not go far enough to comply with laws against discrimination.”

Pregnancy Discrimination; Image Courtesy of Do I Have a Case?, www.doihaveacase.co.uk

Tomlinson agrees, and would like nothing more than to see the retailer make some real changes. When discussing the matter, she said:“I want Walmart to make real changes so that what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else. Walmart could have easily provided a way for me to keep working during my pregnancy, but they wouldn’t.”So how has Walmart responded to the discrimination allegations? So far Randy Hargrove, a spokesman for the retailer, said “the company has not been served with the charge and will respond when it is.” He added:“The company policies on pregnant workers have always exceeded requirements set by state and federal law...In this instance, there was not a job available that met Ms. Tomlinson’s requested accommodations, so, as a result, she took a leave of absence.”For those who don't know, Walmart is a giant retail store with an estimated 1.5 million employees in the U.S. and another 800,000 stationed in other areas around the globe. It's so large that “as of 2015, it was the largest employer in 20 states.”

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Griffin woman files complaint against Walmart for anti-pregnancy biasWalmart accused of discriminating against pregnant workers