Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

On Monday, AT&T Mobility Services LLC a/k/a AT&T Mobility LLC and AT&T Services were hit with a class action lawsuit accusing them of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act), the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against pregnant employees.

Plaintiffs Katia Hills and Cynthia Allen filed the AT&T class action lawsuit, alleging they did not receive the protections of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and instead suffered adverse employment consequences, and were ultimately terminated by AT&T, due to their pregnancies.

Hills and Allen claim that under AT&T’s Sales Attendance Guidance (SAG) policy, AT&T refused to excuse absences for pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions.

“AT&T’s SAG policy–which applied to Plaintiffs and continues to apply to non-exempt, non-managerial employees in company-owned stores–imposes a ‘point’ or fraction of a ‘point’ for unexcused absences from work, late arrivals, or early departures,” the plaintiffs explain in the AT&T class action lawsuit.

“Once an employee exceeds a threshold of points, she is terminated. Points also impact an employee’s ability to be promoted and to transfer stores.”

The SAG policy reportedly provides for excused absences, late arrivals or early departures for specific situations, but the policy does not mention pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions, the AT&T class action lawsuit alleges.

Hills and Allen claim that AT&T’s refusal to excuse absences, late arrivals and early departure related to pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions constitutes intentional discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

HIlls alleges that AT&T began to enforce its attendance policy more strictly against her after she became pregnant in October 2014, but continued to be lenient toward her non-pregnant coworkers. According to the AT&T class action lawsuit, she was late to her shift only five times and was absent four times, all of which should have been excused because of her pregnancy.

Her non-pregnant colleagues, however, were reportedly not assessed points even when they were late to work, late returning from lunch, or leaving work early for other obligations that are not covered by the SAG policy.

Allen says she was pregnant three times while working for AT&T in New York. She learned she was pregnant for the third time in March 2016 and suffered from severe pregnancy symptoms. While she was pregnant, she transferred to a Las Vegas store, where she says she was unable to get excused absences for her pregnancy-related symptoms and medical appointments.

Both plaintiffs allege they were denied reasonable accommodations and were fired for accumulating too many points under AT&T’s SAG policy.

Hills and Allen filed the AT&T class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and a proposed Class of non-exempt, non-managerial female employees of AT&T stores nationwide who were denied excused absences pursuant to the company’s SAG policy.

The plaintiffs are represented by Lenora M. Lapidus and Gillian L. Thomas of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project; Joseph M. Sellers, Kalpana Kotagal and Miriam R. Nemeth of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC; and by Lynn A. Toops of Cohen & Malad LLP.

The AT&T Pregnancy Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Katia Hills, et al. v. AT&T Mobility Services LLC, et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-00556, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

We tell you about cash you can claim EVERY WEEK! Sign up for our free newsletter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. By submitting your comment and contact information, you agree to receive marketing emails from Top Class Actions regarding this and/or similar lawsuits or settlements, and/or to be contacted by an attorney or law firm to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you if you qualify. Required fields are marked *

Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements, drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are expected to be mailed out.