Or as the Slate.com DoubleX blog puts it: Yes, You Can Get Fired After Taking Maternity Leave: The confusing state of family-leave policies.
Sandy Stephens got pregnant when she was working in housekeeping for a company known as Global NAPs Inc. in Massachusetts. Her supervisor at the small telecommunications firm had told her that she could take unpaid maternity leave longer than eight weeks if she gave birth by cesarean section. Stephens did wind up having a C-section, and so she stayed home for 11 weeks. Yet, when she returned to her job, she found she had been fired.
It’s the kind of “misunderstanding” that takes place all the time. The postpartum deal is struck, the baby comes, and then—whoops!—human resources has no record of the agreement. The story often ends up with a confused, angry, and suddenly unemployed new mother quietly accepting her fate. In this case, though, Stephens decided to sue; and last week the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed her a decision that is a depressing, if not surprising, reminder of the sorry state of parental-leave policy in this country.
More To Read
March 24, 2023
Women’s Labor is Women’s History
To understand women's history, we must learn the role of women - and especially women of color - in the labor movement
March 24, 2023
Victory! Washington Takes a Critical Step Towards Balancing our Tax Code
Washington state supreme court upholds the capital gains tax
February 15, 2023
Podcast: Getting to Lower Health Care Costs in Washington
EOI's Sam Hatzenbeler joins Washington's Indivisible Podcast to discuss our state's health care costs crisis and what the legislature can do to solve it