Gilroy
– A downtown pizzeria is being hauled into federal court on
charges of terminating an employee because she became pregnant.
Gilroy – A downtown pizzeria is being hauled into federal court on charges of terminating an employee because she became pregnant.
On Thursday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a “pregnancy discrimination” lawsuit against Happy Dog Pizza Company for its decision to fire Lalani Ponce in February 2005. The waitress, now 28, had only worked at the Fifth Street restaurant about a month before announcing to owner Steve Gearing that she was pregnant with the child of Alex Jara, the restaurant’s executive chef at the time.
Shortly before firing her, coworkers allegedly overheard Gearing comment that “we can’t have a pregnant waitress” and “[Ponce] can’t manage the restaurant if she is going to leave within a few months,” according to a press release from the EEOC.
“All we know is that on or about Feb. 10 (of 2005), she told him that she was pregnant and then they fired her a week later,” said William Tamayo, a regional attorney for the EEOC. “And in between there are comments about her pregnancy … To me it was so clear that she was fired for telling them that she was pregnant.”
The announcement of the suit shocked Gearing, who thought the matter was dropped after he declined to settle with the agency in August 2006. The government is seeking back pay, lost wages, and compensatory damages on behalf of Ponce.
“If she files this suit, we’re going to file a countersuit,” Gearing said Thursday. “It’s all garbage and we’re basically being extorted. It’s just one giant pack of lies.”
On the advice of her attorney, Ponce, who now works at Glory Days sports bar and restaurant in Morgan Hill, declined to comment.
She went to work at Happy Dog Pizza after three years in restaurant managerial positions, according to Tamayo. Ponce was recruited by Gearing after she served him at other restaurants, according to Marcia Mitchell, a senior attorney with the EEOC.
“(He) was impressed by her abilities and asked her to come on as a floor manager,” Mitchell said. “She looked at it as an opportunity for advancement.”
Ponce did not know of her pregnancy before starting at the restaurant, and she informed Gearing about it a month into the job, Mitchell said. In the following week, Ponce learned from Jara, who died in a car accident in January 2006, and other coworkers that Gearing had commented negatively about her pregnancy, Mitchell said.
“(It) was not the happy reaction that she had hoped for,” Mitchell said. “And then within a week … she was removed from the work schedule and then his business partner told her she was no longer employed.”
Gearing said, however, that Ponce was fired because she failed to meet expectations after being hired on a trial basis.
“We were working out the responsibilities of what she was going to do,” he said. “She was just really whiny and negative. After this big long talk, she said, ‘I’ll do it.’ I said ‘I’m not going to talk you into this job. You need to come back tomorrow and tell me why you want this job.’ She stuck out her hand to seal the deal and I did not shake her hand. And then she never came back to talk to me again. I told (co-owner) Vince (Lucio) to fire her … Being pregnant had nothing to do with it.”
This is not the first time Happy Dog Pizza has faced legal troubles. The restaurant had its liquor license suspended last month as punishment for a February 2006 assault on undercover Alcohol Beverage and Control agents. Four patrons were arrested as a result of the incident and Happy Dog was cited for “operating a disorderly house.”
Gearing shut down the restaurant Feb. 1 so that renovations would overlap with the one-month suspension of its license. He plans to re-open April 9.
The pregnancy discrimination suit will move forward July 3, when attorneys meet to lay out a schedule for the case. Barring a settlement, the average case lasts about two years, Mitchell said.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. According to the agency, pregnancy bias filings have increased over the past 15 years from 3,385 in fiscal year 1992 to a record high of 4,900 last year.
