Boss fired the employee after she disclosed she was pregnant, then regretted it when she responded by suing him

A pregnant woman was fired by her boss simply because she disclosed to him that she was pregnant. Prompted by the injustice, the woman moved forward to sue him, making him instantly regret his decision. Her attorney, Ryan Stygar (@attorneyryan), shared the story on his Instagram account on December 5, where the post received many reactions from online users who criticized corporate companies for their unethical practices and for the larger need for workers to be aware of their rights.

Attorney Ryan Stygar shared that he recently dealt with the "whiniest baby" boss while representing his client, who was pregnant. Instead of offering reasonable schedule accommodations, the boss decided to fire his employee for her pregnancy. Stygar shared that although her termination letter said "at will," they knew that it was a forced termination, as she was fired one week after she disclosed her pregnancy to her boss. The woman reached out to the attorney, who later sued the boss for wrongful termination. Angered by the reaction, the boss immediately contacted Stygar, asking why he was being sued for something "frivolous." He insisted he had done nothing wrong because he labeled the firing as "at will."

However, Stygar countered that simply writing "at will" does not erase the discriminatory undertone. "I said, 'Yeah, that's your side of the story, and we don't believe you.' And he was flabbergasted. He goes, 'But it says at will in her paperwork,' and I said, 'Again, you wrote that paperwork,'" Stygar said. Shedding light on corporate bullying, Stygar shared that some bosses are used to bullying people without any pushback, assuming that they can get away with it. "But once you know your rights, you can stand up to these losers and actually win," Stygar stated. A 2024 report published by Jaclyn D. Borrowman et al. examined the experiences of occupational pregnancy discrimination among working pregnant employees in the United States.

The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 participants who were pregnant and worked at least 35 hours per week, had been employed for a minimum of one year at their current workplace, and had no diagnosed depression or anxiety. The findings showed that participants were able to identify multiple forms of pregnancy discrimination, which they attributed to systemic workplace issues and perceptions that women are physically weak. The study concluded that pregnancy discrimination takes varied forms and continues to affect some working pregnant individuals. By firing the pregnant employee, the boss violated the basic principles of fairness and equality.

Soon after the post went viral, many users shared their two cents on the story. @leah.bird77 shared, "I got fired when I was eight months pregnant, and it was 100% because I was pregnant and for no other reason… it's been years, but I was told I should sue back then. How would you even prove that that was the reason?" @kenkowskike wrote, "You give me so much hope for this country. Please keep doing what you do." @jd071961 wrote, "Well, let's see what happens when he answers discovery? He's so sure that he's right. Let's see internal emails, memos, etc., and metadata! I can't with employers!" 

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