Pregnancy bias case can proceed against female doctors' OB/GYN practice

You would think an organization that deals with pregnant women all day long would be sensitive to their needs, and just “with it” as far as accommodating them, but that was apparently not the case with a Chicago gynecological practice, at least according to a former employee.

Medical records clerk Durcy Camacho filed suit against Gynecologic Specialists of Northwestern S.C. — which is operated by three female physicians, no less — claiming it violated pregnancy discrimination law, among other charges, when it terminated her while she was taking an approved leave of absence three weeks after giving birth to her daughter in 2011.

The U.S. District Court in Chicago gave Ms. Camacho the OK to proceed with her lawsuit against the practice in a ruling last month.

The practice effectively replaced Ms. Camacho, a five-year employee, with a nonpregnant worker “which could be considered by a reasonable jury as a pretext for its unlawful discriminatory intentions,” said the ruling, in allowing the case to proceed.