Mom returns to work after bonding with baby, learns she was fired for it, officials say
A woman visited her job after taking several weeks off to bond with her baby and discovered she was fired for doing so, officials in New Jersey said.
While employed as a customer experience ambassador at Gabe’s, a discount retailer with stores in 20 states, the woman was out on maternity leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act and asked for six more weeks off under state law to spend time with her newborn in August 2019, according to the New Jersey attorney general’s office.
When those six weeks were nearing an end, she returned to work to figure out her upcoming work schedule — but learned she was fired from her job at the store in Vineland a month earlier “purportedly for failing to communicate” with the company about returning to work, according to a complaint filed with the state’s Division on Civil Rights.
However, she was entitled to those six weeks of bonding time with her baby under the New Jersey Family Leave Act, according to officials.
Now, Gabe’s has agreed to pay $113,500 in relief to settle the complaint filed over her firing, the attorney general’s office announced in a May 23 news release.
Of that amount, $66,000 will go directly to the former Gabe’s employee, officials said. Additionally, the company will pay $44,000 in attorney fees and $3,500 to the state’s Division on Civil Rights.
“The New Jersey Family Leave Act protects a parent’s right to take time away from work to bond with their child without fear of losing their job,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.
McClatchy News contacted Gabe’s on May 24 and didn’t immediately receive a response.
Platkin’s office announced another company, Pine Belt Management LLC, has also agreed to pay relief to settle a complaint filed in a similar case.
The New Jersey car dealership is accused of firing a service advisor for requesting to take family leave under the NJFLA ahead of the birth of his child, according to a complaint filed with the Division on Civil Rights, the release said.
His request was initially denied, then he was fired “in retaliation for requesting it” in February 2018, according to officials.
Pine Belt has agreed to pay $105,000 in relief to settle the complaint, with $67,000 going toward the former employee, the release said. Meanwhile, $33,000 will be paid for attorney’s fees and $5,000 will be paid to the Division on Civil Rights.
Pine Belt spokesman Rob Sickel told McClatchy News in a statement on May 24 that the worker “was absolutely not fired” for requesting family leave. According to Sickel, the employee’s firing was unrelated and just happened to coincide with his family leave request.
He added that many Pine Belt employees use family leave “without any issues.” But he said missing information in the company’s employee handbook has since been updated.
As part of the settlements, both Gabe’s and Pine Belt agreed to train employees on the companies’ NJFLA policy, the release said.
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