Pregnant? Getting sick at work? No problem, here's a trash can, keep working

[The Straight Story]

Employer of the Year

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (CN) - In a pregnancy discrimination complaint, a worker claims her company "accommodated" her morning sickness by offering her a bigger wastebasket so she could vomit at her desk instead of losing time by running to the bathroom.
April Roller sued National Processing of America, in Federal Court.

Roller claims National Processing, an inbound and outbound call center, promoted her to management in January 2011, less than a year before it fired her.

Roller claims National Processing fired her because of her high-risk pregnancy.

She says National Processing harassed throughout her pregnancy, including delaying paperwork for taking leave under the Family Medical Leave Act writing her up for frequent bathroom visits due to morning sickness.

"On one occasion, defendant's manager told plaintiff that she would obtain a larger trash can for plaintiff so that she could take care of vomiting without having to visit the bathroom or leave her seat," the complaint states. "Plaintiff complained about such comment appropriately but nothing was done nor any apology provided to plaintiff. Instead, plaintiff received additional write-ups without her knowledge, to further discriminate against her and in retaliation for her complaint about the rude comment pertaining to her pregnancy condition.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/11/30/52719.htm

[geardaddy]

1. I hope she wins

and the company has to pay big money.

[liberal_at_heart]

2. the outright disrespect for women in this country infuriates me!

[Initech]

4. The shit employers are getting away with in regard to how they treat their employees infuriates me!

[woo me with science]

8. +10000

[hollysmom]

3. this is not new

my nephew is 40 years old and his mother was moved from the front office where she audited books to the store room to move boxes because it would not be good for clients to see a pregnant woman - like they were what??? They had to have seen a pregnant woman some where, My sister had to leave that job because she was afraid of losing the baby and then it was not illegal.

[DaniDubois]

5. With the excellent birth control methods we have available today, pregnancy has pretty much became a

choice. When I got pregnant, i left my job because I was so sick and I felt it was wrong to take the full pay from my employer when I was obviously unable to give them my best hundred percent that they hired me to give. When they hired me they hired a person who took reasonable bathroom breaks, once a day maybe none. At 30 to 40 minutes a day in the bathroom at 15 dollars an hour, that adds up at the end of the week. My employer didn't choose to become pregnant I did.

My point is, maybe everyone should take a little personal responsibility. I understand wanting to keep your job, but expecting an employer to pay for not working because of your choices seems just as wrong as firing someone because they're pregnant. Maybe a fair law would be to give employees a certain amount of unpaid bathroom time per day. The folks who don't live in the bathroom could use it as break time others might not use the time at all and get paid for it.

There has to be a fair way around this problem for both parties.

[IdaBriggs]

6. Ah, so cancer patients vomiting from chemotherapy - same thing?

Being treated is a choice, after all. Same thing for people who get old on the job - their bosses hired young, strong people, and getting old or not keeping up the exercise routines is a choice, right? And what about the people who develop bladder issues, or have constipation? Should they be penalized or required to excrete in an expeditious manner less they be chastised in a public fashion for their lack of bowel regularity?

I find your thoughts to demonstrate a lack of critical reasoning skills necessary when dealing with the bodily functions of human beings.

Fail.

[The Straight Story]

7. If you want a society of working slave robots, just say so, we are talking humans here

I went to work many times very ill (which got others sick) because we didn't have any sick leave. That money stuff comes in handy when you are sick.

I know republicans here hate europe, especially germany, because they have to treat their workers like people and not clones of a robot made in a factory by some ceo.


Oh, and don't say getting sick isn't a choice. People could home school their kids to minimize exposure. Order bulk food online and have things delivered and wipe them down every single time. Etc and so on, you can prevent it most times (kind of gets in the way of course, but life is not about fun but about making sure you are at 100% all the time so someone else can use your labor at a cheap cost).

We as a *society* make choices that balance things out because companies, etc, will only work for one goal - make money off our resources (people, oil, coal, land, food, etc). That oil we want to drill here? Sold to china - won't help us, and we will lose it. That may sound great for the people who pump it out and make a profit, but that resource should go to the US first so that we all benefit.

The same general idea goes to our people. Protect our resources, respect them, realize they are not machines but real people. You want to do business here, fine. There are rules. Want to get a car, license, drive here? There are rules to follow that benefit others (some would say - if I can afford a car that goes 200mph why can't I do so through your little neighborhood? Jealous, go buy your own!).

With power comes responsibility. Get pregnant? That is our future generation. Our soldiers, workers, educators, presidents,people - us.

Sympathy and compassion are two traits not held by republicans or many of today's christians...who oddly enough love having that rule book that restricts them (but they ignore/look over many of those restrictions).

[forestpath]

9. "A certain amount of unpaid bathroom time per day"

Unbefuckinglievable.

[gkhouston]

10. No one monitored how much time I spent in the bathroom when I was pregnant.

Then again, they weren't looking for ways to harass me into quitting. Now that I think back on it, I probably spent more time at my desk, rather than less, because I didn't go out for lunch. I stayed at my desk and nibbled off and on for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, because that was the only way I could get the food down.

[forestpath]

12. I think anybody who needs to go to the bathroom at work - for pee, poop, puke, period, any

necessary biological purpose - is entitled to that right and for an employer to deny it or make employees jump through hoops for it should be illegal.

You can bet if men got pregnant or had periods it wouldn't be an issue.

[Ilsa]

11. Bathroom breaks "once a day, maybe none." ?

Great way to mess up your kidneys or bladder, whether you are making minimum wage or $15/hr, pay is inconsequential.
What a hard-ass. Glad you aren't my boss.

[FieryLocks]

14. Wow...just wow!

I understand wanting to keep your job, but expecting an employer to pay for not working because of your choices seems just as wrong as firing someone because they're pregnant.

I don't think you understand anything. When you go out on maternity leave by 'choice'
you do not get paid. When you are put on disability because of complications caused
by pregnancy by a doctor's order your disability is paid by money that has been deducted
from you paycheck.
And when human beings have to go to the bathroom they have to go...there is no way around
that. Some people have to go more than others...pregnant or not. So you think restroom
use should be legislated in some way? Should people resort to wearing Depends so they don't
get 'deductions' taken from their pay? Do you know what happens to your kidneys and bladder
if you hold it in too long and too often...yeah, urinary tract infections! Maybe we should just
replace everyone with robots...how about that?

You have some serious issues...seriously.

[ceile]

16. Pregnancy is a medical condition and should be treated as such.

Accommodations must be made or the employer is in violation of labor laws. She has every right to sue for discrimination.

[Capt. Obvious]

17. I think you may be lost

You have amazing bladder control. Never given birth I take it?

[laundry_queen]

25. giving birth is a choice, you see

so if your bladder control is wrecked by a large-ish head passing by there during birth, or your bladder was sliced away from your uterus for your c-section, it's YOUR fault and YOUR choice that you don't have amazing bladder control. Wear depends or something I suppose.

Also,

[LadyHawkAZ]

18. There is a fair way around it

and it's called FMLA, which she properly filed paperwork for and got jerked around on.

[yardwork]

20. How did you pay for labor and delivery?

Most people in the U.S. would lose their health insurance if they quit their job because they had a couple months of morning sickness. Not to mention losing their income, on which they live. Unless you are part of the 1%, most of us have to work to live.

When I was pregnant I had morning sickness for a couple of months, and enough sick leave saved up to cover the time away from work. If I had been sick at work I would have expected my employer to work with me through those few weeks that I was less than 100% - just as my employer worked with people who were battling cancer, back pain, influenza, etc.

[Ruby the Liberal]

31. I should have scrolled down.

You beat me to it.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. Since what you describe is not an automatic outcome of pregnancy, there IS a fair way to handle it.

It's called reasonable accommodation.

[REP]

22. I hope you're not taking your dependent deduction for your choices, too

Why should everyone else subsidize your choices? Pay all your taxes - don't make me pick up your slack.

[Squinch]

26. That is just crazy in every way.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

27. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.................

Reasonable bathroom breaks 'once a day, maybe none'? Bathroom time? What have you been smoking?

[antigone382]

29. Faulty premise. But nevertheless, you know that's a "choice" men will never have to make.

Those birth control methods are not as universally available as you seem to think, nor is education about them sufficiently widespread. Even if it were, society as a whole has an interest in a certain level of reproduction. Society as a whole has a certain duty to accommodate the reality that some members of that society will be burdened with pregnancy and childcare at some point in their lives. If we had paid leave for childbirth, as many other countries do, that would be one thing. Unfortunately, we have no such provisions. This places the entire economic burden for birth (and most of the burden for childcare) on women. The social implications of this are tremendous and inherently unfair. Men in America very rarely have to choose between having a family and having a career.

[Ruby the Liberal]

30. You are fortunate that you had alternate means of getting health insurance

Not many people can afford to quit a job when they have the expense of child birth and a new baby to feed and clothe, and God forbid the little one isn't the picture of health when it arrives.

[fishwax]

33. wow.

[Agschmid]

34. Really? directed at DaniDubois...

[Helen Reddy]

13. I really, really try

to never be critical of any persons post. You know, "walk a mile in their shoes..."

BUT

DaniDubois post above is really unpleasant. I sincerely wish she would rethink those words, and realize just how unmindful they really are.

[FieryLocks]

15. Ditto!

I totally agree!

[datasuspect]

19. if you have to go to work sick

lick the phones, cough and snot and sneeze loudly (don't cover your mouth).

make sure you don't make it to the bathroom (on purpose).

moan and make sick noises.

[LeftyMom]

23. Who wants to work next to somebody ralphing into a wastebasket?

The noise? The smell!

I'd need my own pukebasket.

[KatyaR]

24. Sadly, this is nothing new.

My second job, back in the early 80s, was in the word processing pool at the headquarters of a national five-and-dime store, now long gone. This was way before FMLA. We had a young lady start working for us not long after she got married, she was in her earlier 20s. Not long after joining us, she became pregnant. She had horrible morning sickness which actually lasted all day. After about a week, she was told to use the trash can at her desk and not to leave her desk except at lunch and our 2 scheduled 15-minute breaks every day.

That was one of the worst jobs ever. It's said to see that 30 years later, nothing's really changed.

[MrsBrady]

28. compassion.

because compassion is far too expensive to let her freaking puke in the bathroom

I hope they really pay now

[limpyhobbler]

32. That's cool. I worked at a call center where people were wearing diapers so they could pee and keep

working.

Use your break time to change your diaper. It's cool. Help your boss make more money.