Woman Fired For Being Pregnant And Needing Time Off To Give Birth

This woman was fired for being pregnant because taking time off to have a baby wasn’t convenient for her manager

A pregnant woman in Washington state says she was fired for being pregnant via text message by a manager at the restaurant where she worked. Yep, you read that correctly — fired for being pregnant. She shared a screenshot of the text exchange between her and her manager to her Facebook page, where it quickly went viral.

Kameisha Denton, a former employee of the Jersey Mike’s sub shop chain, shared the message where she was fired and then asked the Facebook community if it was legal to do so. In the message, the manager doesn’t beat around the bush or even attempt to disguise the reason Denton is being fired. He makes it crystal clear it’s because she’s pregnant.

Denton said she realized that she hadn’t been assigned shifts at work, so she asked her manager for an updated schedule. And then she got fired. Because “it’s not a good time” for the sub shop to employ someone who needs time off. TO HAVE A BABY. Why are pregnant women treated so abysmally in the workplace, still, in 2018?

“I was just like in shock, it took me a minute to face reality,” Denton tells KIRO-TV. “I was like this is really happening.”

According to Washington state law, it’s “unfair practice” for an employer to refuse to hire or promote, or terminate or demote, a woman due to pregnancy or childbirth. As for the Jersey Mike’s franchise where Denton worked, the owner, Tim Trieb, says “it never ever should have happened” and that it’s company policy to treat everyone equally. According to KIRO-TV, the asshole who fired Denton has since resigned. Denton was offered her job back, though she said thanks, but no thanks.

Not to worry, though — since posting her message to Facebook, she’s received plenty of job offers. “I look at it as a blessing.”