KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- April Roller, like most pregnant women, frequently has to use the restroom. But her employer, National Processing of America, fired Roller, reportedly citing too many bathroom breaks as reason to get rid of the pregnant woman. Now, Roller is suing the company.
Pregnant women often have to urinate more frequently. At the beginning of pregnancy, increased blood and fluids, plus a range of hormones, make women need to urinate more often. In later pregnancy, the weight of the baby on the woman’s bladder makes it difficult to hold it in. Roller also had the common symptom of “morning sickness.”
In the lawsuit, Roller claims that the call-center she worked for discouraged her for using the restroom so frequently. In order to keep her at her desk, they allegedly gave her a wastebasket to vomit into. Roller also claims that National Processing delayed her family leave paperwork and reprimanded her for wearing the special shoes she needed for her swollen feet.
Roller was eventually demoted. When the company asked her to transfer due to her condition, she refused. The lawsuit states:
“On another occasion, defendant’s manager told plaintiff that defendant did not ‘pay [her] to pee,’ objecting to plaintiff’s necessity to use the bathroom when plaintiff experienced nausea or dizziness due to her pregnancy conditions. Defendant’s manager claimed to plaintiff it was not ‘fair to other employees’ for plaintiff to take excessive bathroom breaks. When plaintiff complained about being told that defendant did not ‘pay [her] to pee,’ defendant characterized plaintiff’s need to take bathroom breaks due to the conditions of her pregnancy as being ‘constantly out of her desk.’”
Roller is suing the company for violations of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, Title VII and the Family Medical Leave Act.
Do you think that pregnant women deserve the right to urinate more frequently during the work day? Sound off in the comments below.
