Insurance Adjuster Hit with Pregnancy Discrimination Charge

December 1, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A former employee of GAB Robins North America Inc. has charged in a lawsuit against the insurance claims adjuster that she was discriminated and retaliated against after she became pregnant,

The lawsuit charged that when Erika Fractious, a former claims assistant, was out on pregnancy-related disability leave in 2004, her immediate supervisor, defendant Tammy Holt, spread false rumors about her work performance and that she had been taking illegal drugs, according to a Business Insurance report.

The case also charged that GAB Robins did not accommodate Fractious’ disability leave and fired her for being pregnant, for requesting and taking pregnancy-related leave and for taking drugs.

Specifically, the complaint charged that when Fractious reiterated her intentions of returning to work and asked about her pregnancy disability leave rights, she was told that she was not protected by the Family & Medical Leave Act and that six weeks was all she was entitled to under state law.

James Arnold, general counsel at GAB Robins, said he has only seen a press release about the suit, not the complaint, but based on the release, “we believe the claims to be without basis, and we expect to successfully defend the matter on its merits,” he said.

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