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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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19 thoughts onDollar General Class Action Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Workers
I’m only about 7 weeks pregnant, I told my store manager about my pregnancy at around 3-4 weeks due. I was having severe morning sickness and at first was unaware of the pregnancy. When I told her she said she didn’t want me coming back to work until she spoke with her direct manager because she was aware that the work environment is “stressful” and didn’t want me getting overwhelmed at work. I understand that, but that should be my decision, after all it is my income. Before the pregnancy I was only getting 10-15 hours a week anyways, that’s about $55-100 a week, and I already have a 5 year old so being on a low income with one child and another on the way, that’s difficult. I have bills to pay and I’m sure I’m not the only one going through that. Yeah, I can get another job, but why do that when I was told I’d be getting at minimum 20hours/week with Dollar General. Not to mention all the time worked off the clock because the assistant managers on duty don’t do their jobs & wait till last minute to do certain things. Dollar General closes at 10pm where I work, when I have to work nights I’m asked to clock out no later than 10:20. Tell me if I should get paid for work after 10:20pm. Doors are locked at 10:00 start sweeping, usually finished by 10:10-10:15 then by that time I’m asked to clock out, then i take all the trash to the back, I get to mop the entire store by MYSELF, back of the store, front end, bathrooms, everything, Takes about 15 minutes give or take to mop everything while the assistant manager on duty sits in the office waiting on me to finish mopping. When I’m done mopping I bring the bucket to the back, clean it out (nobody else does that) by 10:40 I’m finished with all my responsibilities and waiting on the manager on duty to finish up so we can go right? Wrong. Depending on who’s working, one manager in particular will stay in the back cleaning and organizing who knows what because the entire shift that’s what she was supposed to be doing anyways. When she finally finishes she’s still got servers things to do as she makes her way to the front door, but lastly she makes sure to go to the bathroom before we go, she lives around the corner from the store so I know you can make it home…sometimes she’s gotta drop a load sometimes just a quick bathroom trip, but there is no excuse as to why I clock out at 10:20 and I don’t walk out the door till after 11 most nights.
I still haven’t heard anything about when she will have me back at work, and I honestly feel like she will not be putting me back on the schedule. I can go in the store and she completely ignores the fact I’m there, as well as the other employees. It’s like they know I’ve been terminated or something, everyone just has that “stare”
I feel as if I should be looking for another job because of how I’ve been treated by Dollar General. And in all honesty, that’s what I’m going to do.
Please add me. I was forced into unpaid leave until I had my restrictions removed so I could continue to work.
Please add me. I was forced into unpaid leave of absence. I had to remove my restrictions to continue to work.
Please add me
Please add me I was force to continue heavy lifting I was up for promotion and they refused to promote me until after I had my child because they didn’t want to pay my maternity leave I had to take my leave at 33 weeks because I was being over worked and it was causing my blood sugar to drop so because they refused to give me my promotion to assistant manager until after maternity leave I had absolutely no income at all I was told because I was pregnant they didn’t wanna promote me please add me
Please add me I was force to continue heavy lifting I was up for promotion and they refused to promote me until after I had my child because they didn’t want to pay my maternity leave I had to take my leave at 33 weeks because I was being over worked and it was causing my blood sugar to drop so because they refused to give me my promotion to assistant manager until after maternity leave I had absolutely no income at all I was told because I was pregnant they didn’t wanna promote me
Please add me I worked at the dollar general warehouse. They told me they couldn’t accommodate my weight restriction and laid me off for 28 weeks I went unpaid the entire time.
Please add me. I was hired and fired in the same day after they found out I was pregnant.
I am currently 22 weeks pregnant working at dollar general. My manager wrote me up because i refused to push a heavy rolltainer to back of store because I have sciatic nerve pain and had been standing/walking for 7 hours. So my pain was pretty bad and my legs and feet were swollen. I told her I could not push it because I am pregnant and that is a risk of hurting my back. She then told me to stop using my pregnancy as an excuse. The only time I use it as an excuse is for heavy lifting or pushing but she made it sound like it was every day used my pregnancy as an excuse which is not true. Then she told me that there is no light work at dollar general and would write me up. I took the write up because I did not want to risk hurting myself. I feel like I will get fired soon because of this. If I do I wonder if I can sue? That’s what im doing research. Hope every pregnant woman gets justice for being discriminated against in the workplace.
Please add me
Please add me