NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal complaint on September 8 in the Eastern District of Louisiana against Bourne's House Restaurant for allegedly refusing to retain and rehire a woman due to her being pregnant.
According to the complaint, the EEOC is representing a woman named Lauren Gerald, who filed a charge of discrimination in violation of Title VII. Gerald alleges that on April 18, 2019, she applied in person for a position at Bourne's House. Suzi Kennedy Bourne, a manager at Bourne’s House, met with Gerald and hired her for a hostess position.
Gerald was told to report to work on April 19, 2019, and after leaving, Bourne allegedly learned that Gerald was pregnant. Bourne allegedly sent Gerald a Facebook message saying "Hey, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm not gonna be able to hire you. I didn't realize that you were expecting a baby. I'm afraid by the time I get you trained good, you'll have to be off to be a mom. I'm sorry."
Gerald reported to work on April 19, 2019, having not seen the message, and Gerald was dismissed, the suit says. On April 23, 2019, Gerald again applied for a position at Bourne House and someone at Bourne’s House added the word “pregnant” to Gerald’s application after Gerald submitted it to Bourne’s House and Gerald was not rehired, the suit says. Gerald alleges this was unlawful hiring and employment practices in violation of Title VII.
The EEOC is represented by Andrew B. Kingsley, Gregory T. Juge and Rudy L. Sustaita.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:21-cv-01665-SM-DPC