Pregnancy Discrimination Attorneys in Pasadena, California

Several ways exist that can tie the adverse action to your pregnancy status, including:

Demonstrating a Suspicious Timeline of Events

An adverse action can be connected to your pregnancy by establishing a timeline of relevant events that shows the adverse action was likely motivated by your pregnancy status. 

For example, suppose you received positive performance reviews and recognition from your supervisor or manager until you disclosed your pregnancy. After that, you started receiving negative reviews or had your pay cut. In that case, a lawyer can use that information to show that the adverse action you experienced was likely due to your pregnancy.

It can be helpful to show that the adverse action happened soon after you disclosed your pregnancy. Our pregnancy discrimination attorneys can use timestamped emails, witness testimony, and other records to show the proximity in time between when you disclosed your pregnancy and the actions taken against you when your employer knew you were pregnant.

Proving Employer’s Reasoning for Taking An Adverse Action Against You Is Dishonest

Your employer can be confronted about why they demoted you, cut your pay, fired you, failed to promote you, or committed another adverse action against you. They likely will say it was justified by poor performance or another issue. 

An attorney can refer to markers of your performance to prove that the adverse action was not performance-related and likely motivated by your pregnancy. If the evidence we find shows that no tangible dip in your performance occurred, we can use that finding to show that your employer was most likely lying and possibly trying to hide their discriminatory actions.

As another example, your employer fired you for alleged poor performance after finding out you were pregnant. However, they did not fire other non-pregnant employees with more significant performance issues. This could be used to demonstrate that your employer’s motivation for dismissal was based on your pregnancy, which they tried to hide with the poor performance allegations. 

Using an Employer’s Verbal or Written Comments 

Most employers are aware of the legal ramifications of discriminating against pregnant employees, so your employer will most likely refrain from making any comments that expose any resentment they harbor towards you and your pregnancy.

If your employer does say something that reveals their intention to discriminate against you, our legal team could use it against them. 

Examples of comments that show discriminatory intent include but aren’t limited to:

• “We’re going to feel the burden when you go on maternity leave.”
• “Things have really been disrupted with all your doctor appointments.”
• “How can we know you won’t get pregnant again and disrupt things?” 
• “We are concerned that once you have your baby, you will not be able to focus on your job fully.”

These are just a few examples of the comments a lawyer could use to hold your employer liable for pregnancy discrimination. Our attorneys can use emails, testimony from your co-workers, and other records of such comments to support your claim.