Woman has miscarriage, is fired for attendance violation, feds say. She’s owed $150K
A woman who worked at a Maryland lodge was fired days after telling her supervisor she had a miscarriage and couldn’t make it to her shift, a federal lawsuit says.
Before losing her job, Jessica Cook made it clear she planned to return to work after she had a memorial service for her baby — and after she gained medical clearance from her doctor, according to the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
However, on Dec. 29, 2019, the day of her baby’s memorial, Savage River Lodge fired Cook, a complaint filed in federal court in Maryland says.
Cook, who worked as a guest services representative at the lodge in Frostburg, filed a charge of discrimination over her firing with the EEOC, which protects workers against discrimination, according to the complaint.
Her former supervisor told the EEOC that “Jessica Cook was ultimately terminated due to her violation of our attendance policy,” the complaint states.
Then the EEOC sued Savage River Lodge and Little Crossings, LLC, which both do business as Savage River Lodge, in September 2023 for pregnancy discrimination and retaliation.
After the agency’s demand for a jury trial, Savage River Lodge agreed to settle the lawsuit for $150,000, the EEOC announced in an April 29 news release.
Cook will be paid the amount in full, according to a consent decree that resolves the case.
Cook’s former supervisor, the owners of Savage River Lodge, and an attorney who represented the company didn’t respond to requests for comment from McClatchy News on April 29.
In the lawsuit, Savage River Lodge was accused of not providing Cook with pregnancy-related accommodations before her miscarriage and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Cook hoped to reduce her “strenuous” housekeeping duties, per her doctor’s advice, while at work, according to the complaint.
This included “bending, lifting, climbing, or traveling outside in cold or icy conditions, such as checking cabins prior to guest arrivals, laundering towels and sheets, making beds, and generally cleaning spaces for guests before their arrival,” the complaint states.
However, she wasn’t “advised” to stop these tasks, even after she found herself “bleeding heavily due to pregnancy complications” on Dec. 4, 2019, according to the complaint.
As part of the lawsuit settlement, the EEOC said Savage River Lodge has apologized to Cook and will offer to rehire her or recommend her for a similar job.
Additionally, Savage River Lodge will train its employees on “perinatal bereavement care and trauma-informed care aimed at educating the workforce about pregnancy loss, reducing stigmatizing behavior regarding pregnancy loss, and protecting those who have experienced pregnancy loss from discrimination,” according to the EEOC.
“We commend Jessica Cook for her bravery in challenging this employer’s conduct and for entrusting the EEOC with remedying the violations of her civil rights,” Debra Lawrence, a regional attorney of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, said in the release.
Frostburg is about a 145-mile drive northwest from Baltimore.
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