Denied promotion due to pregnancy?

I am a college professor and last fall applied for tenure. When I met with my dean to discuss my application, she jokingly said that she didn�t recommend getting pregnant. The irony was that I planned to tell her I was pregnant at the end of our meeting. Things got worse the day before I was scheduled to have labor induced. The campus president called to tell me that I had been denied tenure. He knew that I was giving birth the next day and I find his timing suspect. He said that the denial was due to low student success rates; however, my success rates sit at 76%, which is pretty good for a community college. I am certain that there are professors being granted tenure with lower success rates than mine. Further, my dean has engaged in other suspect behaviors since she found out about my pregnancy. I can�t help but think that I am being discriminated against due to my pregnancy and its related medical costs (the college has a self-paid insurance plan). Do you think I can sue for wrongful denial of promotion due to pregnancy discrimination? Please advise.

1 answer  |  asked Apr 7, 2009 01:34 AM [EST]  |  applies to Florida

Answers (1)

Archibald Thomas
Pregnancy Discrimination

It sounds like you have pretty good case of discrimination based on pregnancy assuming you can establish that the reason given for the denial of tenure is false. If this is a state institution, you may either have access to the success rates of other professors or you may be able to obtain this information pursuant to the public records law. This would be a big help to you in pursuing your claim. As you may know, in order to pursue a claim of discrimination against an employer due to pregnancy, you would need to file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and/or the Florida Commissioin on Human Relations before you would be permitted to file suit in court.

posted by Archibald Thomas  |  Apr 7, 2009 4:21 PM [EST]

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