Dillard’s cut pregnant worker’s hours after she complained of discrimination, feds say
A pregnant worker at a Georgia Dillard’s requested an accommodation from her new boss, then was transferred and had her hours cut, federal officials said.
Now, Dillard’s owes her $70,000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced in a news release March 22.
McClatchy News reached out to Dillard’s and its attorneys for comment on the settlement but did not immediately receive a response March 26.
The woman had been with the company for more than a decade and was one of the top-performing sales associates at her location in Alpharetta, federal officials said.
In October 2019, the pregnant worker provided a doctor’s note to request an accommodation with her store manager to take short sitting breaks, officials wrote in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
The request was granted, but a new store manager started working at the company a few months later and asked the worker to provide further documentation, according to government officials.
Five days after the worker told the new manager about her accommodation, she was transferred to a different department that she didn’t want to work in, federal officials said.
She said her transfer to the ladies swimwear department wasn’t optional, the complaint says, and she was worried about meeting her sales numbers in the seasonal department.
In March 2020, the worker contacted the district manager to report discrimination, saying she was transferred because she was Black and pregnant, federal officials said.
Roughly two weeks later, her store manager reduced her hours, officials said. When the woman asked why employees might have their hours reduced, the manager said it had to do with higher or lower sales, federal officials wrote in the complaint.
The government said this reduction of hours was retaliation against the worker for complaining about discrimination, in violation of the Civil Rights Act. The company denies that the worker’s hours were cut and that sales were involved in the decision.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and workers were furloughed.
The woman reported she was not asked to return to work even though other employees were, and that she was later fired while someone else was moved to fill her position in the swimwear department.
In April 2023, the government filed a lawsuit against the company, which denied wrongdoing and said the woman was not entitled to compensation.
“All employment decisions made regarding or affecting (the employee) were based upon legitimate, non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons, were made in good faith and not in connection with any improperly motivated factors,” Dillard’s wrote in a response to the complaint in July.
The EEOC and the company eventually agreed to settle the lawsuit, although Dillard’s continued to deny the claims.
In addition to the woman’s $70,000 payout, Dillard’s agreed to provide training on discrimination and retaliation and send out surveys allowing workers to report harassment and other issues.
“Federal law protects and preserves an employee’s right to speak out when they see or experience discrimination or retaliation,” EEOC attorney Marcus Keegan said in the release. “The EEOC is pleased that the sales associate has been compensated and that Dillard’s has agreed to non-monetary relief to prevent future retaliation as well as monetary relief for the harmed employee.”
Alpharetta is northeast of downtown Atlanta and is part of the city’s metropolitan area.
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