The operators of a Twin Cities senior living center have agreed to pay a woman $73,000 to settle a claim that bosses forced her to quit because she was pregnant.
White Pine Advanced Assisted Living of Inver Grove Heights reached the agreement Monday with 33-year-old Caitlin Robinson after the center was sued on her behalf by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Robinson will receive $40,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress and $33,065.16 in backpay, the agreement read. The consent decree did not require White Pine to admit to any of the allegations.
Along with paying Robinson, the agreement directs the center to revise its anti-discrimination policies, allow the EEOC to monitor for complaints of pregnancy discrimination, and conduct training designed to prevent future violations involving pregnancy discrimination and retaliation.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, filed in January, White Pine promoted Robinson from caregiver to activities coordinator in December 2021. Her manager learned of her pregnancy, threatened to demote her and began excessively scrutinizing her work.
During one conversation “the manager demanded to know why [Robinson] had not disclosed her pregnancy before she was promoted,” the suit read.
Robinson filed a discrimination claim with the EEOC. This prompted her manager to retaliate with negative performance reviews, the lawsuit alleges.
In January 2022, Robinson found an online help wanted ad for her job. In February of that year, Robinson resigned “due to management’s campaign of harassment, repeated threats of termination and the resulting intolerable working conditions,” the suit continued.
