Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog
Pregnant employees in Tennessee and all over the United States should not be discriminated against in the workplace, according to The Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Under this act, employers are forbidden from discrimination when hiring, terminating, paying, laying off, and giving promotions or benefits to someone because they are pregnant. Unfortunately, this kind of discrimination occurs all too often in the workplace to pregnant women. If you or someone you know has faced this or any other kind of workplace discrimination, it is recommended that you talk to a Tennessee employment discrimination attorney right away. They will help you to determine what kind of compensation you may be eligible to receive for your discrimination claim.
According to this lawsuit, model Brandi Cochran, who was a “Price Is Right” model for eight years, claims that she was discriminated against because she was pregnant. According to her claim, she states, after she got pregnant in 2007 that show producers treated her differently and started to give her less work before she was eventually terminated. Cochran says that this caused stress to her and her baby.
The show’s producers argued that Cochran failed to produce any evidence proving that they didn’t rehire her because of her pregnancy. In addition, the producers say they cannot be liable for discriminating against the model for her pregnancy-related depression, as they had no knowledge of the condition. However, prior to the jury deliberating the case, the judge apparently failed to instruct the jury on the necessary elements to find the producers liable.
According to the law, Cochran’s “Price Is Right” lawsuit was a “mixed motive” discrimination case, meaning her termination arguably may have been based on both discriminatory and nondiscriminatory reasons. In such a case, the judge is required to instruct jurors that the employer is only liable if the discrimination is a “substantial motivating reason” for the termination, and not just a “motivating reason.” The judge felt that the jury had received bad jury instructions and ordered a new trial, overturning the $7.7 million jury award for model Brandi Cochran.
It is true that if the judge fails to give the jury instructions on the elements of liability in a discrimination case, that the case should probably be dismissed or overturned like in this lawsuit, and a new trial should be granted. However, discriminating against pregnant employees in Tennessee and all across the country by refusing to hire them, terminating them, cutting back their work hours, passing them up for promotions or denying them fair pay is unlawful under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. If you feel that your rights have been violated under this act, you should contact an experienced and compassionate attorney in our office. We care about our clients and will listen to your claim and see to it that the company or parties responsible for your discrimination are held accountable for their actions. We will also help to ensure that you get any compensation you deserve for how you have been treated.
