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Pregrancy Discrimination: Two Sides to Every Story

May 24, 2008 So there’s yet another pregnancy discrimination suit in the works and in the press, this time involving an $85,000-dollar-a-year assistant.  This week, The Daily News reported that a former TV sitcom actress is suing her employer for wrongful termination based on the fact that she was planning to have a baby and in the process of trying to get pregnant.

I always struggle with these discrimination cases because it’s hard to know who and what to believe.  With each side equally as convinced as the other that it is right, the arguments and the legal fees mount, often times seeming to get no closer to the truth. 

In this particular case, the boss accused of discriminating is Faye Wattleton, a woman with an impressive record in women’s advocacy.  It’s hard to imagine that she would take issue with a female underling wanting to bear a child.  But then again, there is that odd phenomenon that runs so rampant in this country where individuals create a public position and persona that is the exact opposite of who and what they are in reality underneath.  We see it all the time with the politicians who legislate against, and thereby try to make illegal, the very things of which they are guilty.  So I end up back at square one where it’s anyone’s guess as to what is true and what is not.

It’s also hard for me to believe that the number of these types of cases is on the rise with the amount of education, preventative measures and damage control that businesses have put into place to avoid claims being levied against them.  But then again, who knows?  With self-interest being what it is, why would we expect these cases to do anymore than bring out the worst in people?

Posted by Donna Flagg on May 24, 2008 | Comments (0)