1. Research the Laxton vs. Gap lawsuit -- provide some of the details involved in the case.
Mrs. Laxton was working as General Manager at a Stein Mart store when Gap approached her to be the General Manager of a new Old Navy store that was going to be opening soon. Laxton declined the offer at first but then Gap offered her $10,000 more a year than she was making at Stein Mart, so she accepted. Laxton learned she was pregnant after she accepted the offer from Gap. On her first day of work Laxton reported that she was pregnant. Mrs. Jones was upset that Laxton was pregnant and complained that she would have to pull managers from other stores to cover Laxton’s store during a busy holiday season.
The store opened successfully and Laxton received bonuses for doing such a good job. Laxton’s first written warning came about a month after the store opened. There was a scheduled power shut off at her store. Laxton was concerned for her employees that would be counting money while the back door would be open for deliveries and with no power the alarm system wouldn’t be working. She was denied a request to close the store a little earlier, but she closed it anyway for safety.
Less than a month later Laxton received a final written warning from Gap. In the Final Written Warning, Gap claimed Laxton violated four of the company policies and procedures: exiting the store by the back door, displaying unacceptable behavior toward an employee, Kerri Vallery, over the store's walkie-talkie system, neglecting to inform the regional office that she had taken a sick day, and hiring a bank robber. Gap did not give Laxton a chance to explain or defend her actions. Gap also sent a zone trainer (Inglis) to Laxton’s store. Inglis reported that the store had low employee morale and stated there were more policy violations consisting of: exceeding the $75 spending limit by paying $85 for pizza for employees, asking two employees to wear unpurchased tech vests during a sales promotion, and failing to permit employees to take lunch breaks. Laxton gave reasons for these violations at trial.
Laxton sued Gap in Federal Court after being fired for the alleged violations. Laxton claimed Gap violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. The district court conducted a jury trial and Laxton was awarded $127,000 in back pay, $57,000 in front pay, $100,000 in mental anguish, and $200,000 in punitive damages.
2. Visit the website http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-preg.html, and learn more about the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Then answer the following questions:
• Based on what you know, do you agree with the court's findings in Laxton's lawsuit?
• If the supervisor had known she was pregnant before he offered the job and elected not to hire her, would that have been legal?
I completely agree with the court’s findings in the lawsuit. Gap wanted Laxton, they were the ones that sought her out and offered her more money to work for them. Once they found out that she was pregnant it didn’t matter how she performed her duties. Gap was not pleased that she was pregnant and was determined to fire her one way or the other.
It still would be illegal if Gap would have decided to not hire Laxton because she was pregnant. According to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act “An employer cannot refuse to hire a pregnant woman because of her pregnancy, because of a pregnancy-related condition, or because of the prejudices of co-workers, clients, or customers.” (http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-preg.html) It would be different if Gap decided to not hire Laxton because she wasn’t qualified, but it is obvious that this is not the case since Gap contacted her and offered her a better salary than she was making.
3. Many younger women today are still openly discriminated against with regard to their pregnancy because they do not understand their rights. What have your personal experiences been with employers' treatment of pregnant employees.
I personally have not experienced any pregnancy discrimination but I have witnessed some. I recently worked at a gas station as a shift manager. I didn’t do any of the interviewing or hiring but I was present for a discussion between the store manager and the district manager after an interview. A young lady came in for an interview. I had seen her in the store before and she was always polite. She took the standard math test and was then interviewed. After the girl left the two managers were discussing that they thought the girl was pregnant so they decided not to hire her. They did not know for a fact that this girl was pregnant they were just concerned with the fact that they would have to find and train someone else while she was on maternity leave.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1158545.html http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/333/572/603081/ http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-preg.html