Dollar General Class Action Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Workers

A recent Dollar General class action lawsuit claims that the bargain store discriminates against its pregnant employees.

Plaintiff Sherrell Hall says she started working for Dollar General in August 2016, when she was hired as a “picker” for one of their warehouses.

In January 2018, after working in her role for a significant amount of time, Hall reportedly became pregnant.

With an accommodation letter from her obstetrician, Hall allegedly asked her employer to accommodate a 20-pound lifting restriction. The accommodations were reportedly denied. Instead, Hall claims that Dollar General put her on unpaid leave for the entire duration of her pregnancy – approximately 39 weeks.

After returning to work following the birth of her child in November 2018, Hall was allegedly “subjected to harassing comments” from her coworkers and superiors. When she became pregnant in or around February 2019, she says she was “fearful” of sharing the news with her employer.

When she told Dollar General about her new pregnancy, the company allegedly followed its same practices from her first pregnancy and put her on unpaid leave, as opposed to accommodating the weight restrictions.

While on leave, Hall and her husband – who also works for Dollar General – reportedly felt “subjected to retaliation” due to the pregnancies and filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hall claims that she was discriminated against in several instances. For example, Hall says she was denied vacation time payout on the anniversary of her employment in August 2019 because she was on unpaid leave.

Hall also references the “financial burden” caused by being put on unpaid leave for approximately 70 of the last 91 weeks of her employment. She argues this burden was “insurmountable” and unfair.

“As a result of the retaliation and harassment experienced by both Ms. Hall and her husband upon returning from the last unpaid pregnancy leave, Ms. Hall felt she had no option but to resign from her position with Dollar General,” the Dollar General class action lawsuit.

Hall’s recent Dollar General class action claims that she and other women experienced discrimination due to their pregnancies while working for the company. According to Hall, this “intentional discrimination” violates several laws including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Hall seeks to represent a Class of pregnant female warehouse employees who had lifting restrictions while employed by Dollar General. She seeks injunctive relief, declaratory relief, backpay, monetary damages and other compensation for these women.

“Although Plaintiff does not know the precise number of pregnant female warehouse employees with lifting restrictions since the implementation of the policy at issue, the number is far greater than can be feasibly addressed through joinder,” the Dollar General class action notes.

Were you discriminated against during your pregnancy? Share your experiences in the comment section below!

Hall and the proposed Class are represented by Bradley E. Byrne Jr., Dustin J. Kittle and Ashley M. Posey of Humble Law LLC.

The Dollar General Pregnancy Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Hall v. Dolgencorp LLC, Case No. 2:20-cv-00012-GMB, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

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